Beginning of Forever
by thesongofwords
Summary: It's not love at first sight, and they both loved other people first, but in the end, Ricky and Amy just can't ignore their undeniable chemistry and decide that it's high time they followed the paths that Fate have set out for them. ABANDONED. If you wish to adopt it, please message me!
1. Of Band Camps, Lies, and Innocence

He wasn't going to lie. He was bored and there was a very innocent and pretty girl in the room. They were at band camp and though Ricky had seen this girl only once or twice around the campus, he had never really realized how attractive she was. Now he just watched her from where he was sitting, behind the large band drums. What was her name? Ricky searched through his memory banks for a split second before he conjured up the name 'Amy Juergens'. He continued to watch her, his playboy mind-set mentally undressing her. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize Amy was stirring uncomfortably where she stood, feeling an unknown pair of eyes watching her from behind.

She turned around, and swept a quick but nervous cursory glance behind her, her eyes finally settling on Ricky's. Ricky started when he realized she had caught him out. Recovering with the speed of a predator, he gave her his signature 'bad boy' smirk. A deep rosy flush blossomed over her cheeks and she looked away, but not before he caught a hint of a defiant, determined look in her eyes. He frowned, confused. Why did she look like that? A loud voice broke his reverie.

"All right, French horns and basses, you'll be sitting in front of the drummers and the other percussionists. Who's first?" The female teacher paused, eyes scanning through the crowd of students. Eventually, it fixed on one and she called "Hey, the girl at the front," Amy started at being pointed at. "Hi there, welcome to band camp." The teacher smiled reassuringly at her. "You'll be sitting right at the end, in front of the guy behind the drums," she pointed to Amy's place. Amy grimaced a little and lugged her French horn to her allocated seat, exactly diagonal to where Ricky was. She sat down, looking firmly straight ahead, determined not to look into his deep, unfathomable brown eyes. He too, humoured her by staring down at his score sheet, but he couldn't seem to help but glance up at her from under his lashes every now and again.

She could both feel and see his gaze on her from time to time, and she felt uncomfortable but, strangely, rather flattered. Ricky had the indisputable reputation of being able to sleep with any girl he wanted and that reputation certainly wasn't exactly undeserved, or at least, that was what Amy had heard. She knew many girls had lost their virginity to him, having fallen for his charm and rugged good looks, and she was determined not to get sucked into his trap. But those dark brown eyes just kept drifting back into her mind.

Ricky smirked when he remembered the way she blushed. His mind seemed to have magically erased the hard look in her eyes, and though he knew it was there, he did not let it faze him. He knew that this girl, this innocent naïve little girl, had reacted to him and it gave his ego the boost it needed for him to lean in and whisper seductively, "Hey there," into her ear. She stiffened and turned around slowly, caution veiling her eyes.

"Hi…" she murmured, almost unintelligibly. Amy knit her eyebrows together, cautiously withdrawn.

"I'm Ricky," he smiled, trying to seem pleasant and genuine. She nodded, looking away.

"I know." That was all she said before she abruptly turned around, her cheeks burning brightly. Ricky frowned. Why couldn't he get more of a reaction out of her? He nodded slightly, acknowledging he answer and leaned back into his chair.

What was he doing? No, what was she doing? Amy was panicking inside. Her quiet, undisturbed soul that had lived happily for the past fifteen years without being harassed was now in a tumult. This hard-eyed, charming predator that sat behind her was tearing her insides to pieces.

She sneaked a glance at him, and by God was he beautiful. Her heart thumped forcefully as she looked at him. His hair was gently tousled and his dark eyes were framed with long lashes. He was tall, but not gangly, having an extremely desirable washboard body. All of this added to his allure but what Amy really couldn't stop staring at was his lips. His lips were exquisitely shaped; so different to anything she'd ever seen. His upper lip was always quirked and now that Amy looked closely, she saw that one of the curves of his lip was a little higher than the other. Instead of creating a completely lopsided look however, it only made him look more mysterious. She sat, transfixed by his face that she didn't notice herself gradually turning around to gaze at him. She didn't realize that he could feel her eyes on him until he was looking her straight in the eye.

"Looking at something?" he teased, grinning at her. Amy blushed furiously, the colour flooding into her cheeks. She stuttered out a 'Sorry,' before turning around to stare at hands while Ricky smirked at her from behind.  
>He was very amused. Amy looked so embarrassed to be caught ogling him that he wanted to laugh aloud. Ricky knew that he had a bad reputation, a reputation only the majorettes didn't care about. They were easy and fun but Ricky enjoyed a challenge. That was exactly where girls like Amy Juergens came in. He enjoyed luring innocent girls into his trap. It almost gave him a sense of achievement.<p>

* * *

><p>Finally, after hours and hours of tedium in the band room, the lunch bell rang. Students of every size and age poured out from the summer camp classrooms and flooded into the cafeteria. Amy, who didn't really have any friends at band camp, trailed slowly behind the flock of students. Not that she felt lonely, she was perfectly happy in a little world of her own. Only when she got her lunch, however, did she start to feel a little like a lone solider at war, for most of the other students had friends and were sitting together. This left Amy no choice but to sit alone, as she was scared of sitting with others, not wanting to feel pushy. Her roommate, Gale, had lunch in town but Amy's parents had been reluctant to let her do so, and here she was, alone and stuck.<p>

She set her lunch down on the colourful plastic table and sat down on one of the wooden chairs tucked under there. She started picking at her sandwich paper and gingerly pulled the moist sheet off, starting to tuck in.

Only then did she hear, and what's more sense, someone coming towards her. Ricky Underwood. With his bad boy swagger, he had every female eye on him as he strode down the hall. Then, with a wave of force, every eye turned to Amy once it became evident that Ricky was walking towards her. Colour exploded over Amy's cheeks and she could feel the blood and heat rushing all the way up to her temples so fast that it made her head spin. She looked warily up at him.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" he asked, gesturing towards the empty chair beside her. Amy knew she couldn't say no, not without seeming rude. She nodded slightly, looking back down at her sandwich. Amy heard the chair scrape back and felt Ricky sit down.

"So, Amy Juergens how's band camp so far?" Ricky asked, grinning at her. Amy's head shot up at that.

"H-how do you know my name?" She was alarmed, eyes as large and innocent as a china doll.

"We go to school together don't we?" he chuckled at her expression.

Amy pursed her lips and looked up worriedly at him. Where was this conversation leading? She wasn't sure she wanted an answer.

Amy jumped up and blurted out the best excuse she could think of: "I…I have to go…to p-practice." She bit her lip watching him, praying desperately that he would buy it. Ricky frowned up at her and said slowly, "All right…well…okay. I'll walk you there then." He didn't wait for an answer; instead, he stood up, grabbed his lunch and walked purposefully towards the exit of the cafeteria, trying to start a conversation with thin air, as he didn't realize she wasn't following him. Only when he was half way there did he realize that Amy wasn't right behind him. Just about all of the eyes of every female in the room, yes _they_ were following, but not Amy.

He smirked at them, producing a tidal wave of flurried whispering. Ricky looked at Amy and gestured with his head to the door. Her face, already a bright red turned even more so at that. She grabbed her horn and lunch, walking slowly towards him, head slightly bowed, as if to avoid the attention of everyone in the room.

Amy walked slowly beside Ricky, listening to his crash-and-burn attempts at conversation. The French horn in her arms was really heavy and she shifted the weight uncomfortably. Ricky noticed the movement and said, "Amy, it's too heavy for you. Here, let me hold it."

Amy shook her head, eyebrows knit in determination.

Ricky sighed and said again, "Amy. The instrument is too damn heavy. Just give it to me already." He didn't say it forcefully, but Amy was compelled to give it to him. She looked at his face and saw concern in his eyes…but there was something else. All thoughts on trying to figure out what that 'something else' was dissipated when Ricky tilted his head a little, still staring deeply into her eyes. He leaned forward, and gently pressed his lips to hers. Amy gasped and pushed him away. However, this was hard for her, holding the awkwardly large French horn.

Ricky took his chance and grabbed it out of her arms.  
>Amy stared at him, shocked, then annoyance flooded into her eyes. Ricky grinned, deliberately provoking her.<p>

"Ricky, give me back the horn!" she demanded, stopping in her tracks. He smiled easily at her and said, "Just let me try and be the gentleman, please?" He said it almost mockingly and Amy's anger flared. She looked away and muttered, "More like a sex-addicted man whore."

A pregnant silence washed over the both of them. Then Amy heard Ricky sigh a sound of surrender. "You're right you know. I am a little too…sexually active." He'd admitted it. Amy looked at him from under her lashes, innocently curious once again, her anger gone.

"Why do you do it?" she asked it like a child, so sweet and untouched by the harsh world around her.  
>Ricky's predatory mind whirred like a clockwork machine. He had to come up with something to say, and fast. It had to be good, but it also had to be something that would make Amy sympathize him. Ricky was going to play the sympathy card.<p>

"Well…I loved a girl once." He paused, as if this was very hard for him. "I loved her very much…but it turns out, she was just using me to get back at her ex. Once he came back and apologized, bam, she was gone in a second. I guess I never really forgave her. After that I just…I let go of myself." Ricky looked down, as if ashamed.

Amy's breath caught in her throat as she watched Ricky confess his story to her. She probed him to look at her and said gently, "I…I guess-" Amy was stuttering again and she steeled herself to say, "People can do bad things but that doesn't mean they're bad people. I think you need to sober up a little Ricky. Don't use bad sex as a getaway from your broken heart." This was just like in those TV shows that Amy watched, changing the 'bad boy' and everything. Amy, so influenced by the social media that had been pushed towards her, was now completely ignoring all the rumours she had heard about Ricky. She smiled gently at him.

Ricky looked up from his shoes and at her. He pulled up his brave-solider-smile and said, "Thanks Amy."

She smiled, feeling like she was the only person in the world who had got to him and was on the way to helping him out of his black hole. Innocent little Amy Juergens didn't suspect a thing.

* * *

><p>Amy peered around the turn of the corridor as she walked down the long, familiar hallway. As little as she wanted to admit it she was looking for Ricky. She couldn't help but feel happy when she thought back to a few days ago, when Ricky had opened up to her. Whenever she saw him he would smile at her, like they shared a special secret. She didn't get a chance to talk to him after that day, as the whole camp was preparing for their final performance and things were really hectic, but she was hoping that she could sneak a conversation with him before the orchestra had another one of their gruelling practices.<p>

Turning the corner, Amy was disappointed when she couldn't see him in the bustling crowd of students and instructors. Then, out of the blue, she felt someone touch her arm from behind and she whipped around only to crash straight into Ricky.

"I'm so sorry!" she blinked and realized Fate had run her into just who she was looking for. "Oh, hey Ricky," she smiled at him.

He grinned back at her, "Hey Amy, I've been looking for you."

Amy's heart did a leap-and-plunge. "R-really?" she squeaked.

Ricky chuckled, "Yeah. I wanted to ask you something,"

Amy's cheeks coloured faintly and said, "Yeah?"

"So…you know how there's an "end of camp" dance?" She nodded, her heart thumping loudly against her rib cage. "I was wondering if you…wanna go with me?" Ricky faked an embarrassed look. That one always got the shy chicks.

Colour rushed up to Amy's cheeks and the pounding of the blood in her head made her dizzy. Did Ricky just ask her out? 'Keep your cool Amy, keep your cool!' a voice in her head screamed. She opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was an unintelligible stutter. He looked confused, and frowned. Amy, blushing furiously said, "Y-yeah…okay. I'll go with you." Ricky's face cleared and he grinned down at her. "That's awesome. I'll see you in practice then Amy." He smiled at her one last time before he turned and left towards the practice rooms.

Amy watched him go and she stood there, smiling like a fool in the middle of the flood of students in the corridor, hugging herself gleefully. Ricky Underwood had asked her to the dance and all her past apprehension was forgotten. She shrugged, still smiling. She might as well not bother with her previous fear of Ricky being a psychotic womanizer. Let the girls gossip and the boys mutter because Amy Jurghens was going out with Californian bad boy Ricky Underwood and she couldn't care less about what people were saying.

_Score_. That was all that ran through Ricky Underwood's head for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>It was the last day of the five-day programmed and the annual summer band camp dance was scheduled for that night, the last night before all of the students said they're goodbyes and went home after their big show in the morning.<p>

Amy was locked in her dorm room, getting ready for the 'big night' and fretting about it like nothing. Her roommate, Gale was sitting on her bed reading a magazine. Gale was pretty and popular but she had decided against this dance, as she was still getting over a bad breakup. When Amy came out of the bathroom all dressed up, Gale whistled.

"Girl, you look hot!" she exclaimed, grinning at her. Amy smiled back nervously. The butterflies in her stomach weren't butterflies anymore, they were boulders, rolling and tumbling about in their furious wake, like the children of Kronos trapped in their tyrant of a father's stomach.

Amy looked at herself in the mirror. She was pleased with what she saw but something wasn't quite right. Gale had lent her a dress and a pair of 'suitable' (as she had phrased it) shoes for the dance. The dress was white and strapless with a plunging neckline. It rippled down to her knees where it flared out a little in it's pretty, flowing sheerness. At the waist there was a satin gold ribbon that accentuated her hips and small waist. Amy's feet were adorned with a pair of creamy white-heeled flats with suede beige flowers at the toes. She cocked her head to one side and frowned, trying to figure out what was missing. Gale, ever the fashionista, gestured for her to sit down on her bed. Gale pulled out a pretty white ribbon from the first drawer of her dresser and started braiding it into Amy's copper coloured hair. When she was done, she grinned sportingly at Amy and said, "Go get some hot stuff." Amy laughed and left the room, cream clutch in hand.

Standing at the entrance of the hall, Ricky waited for Amy, but as there were pretty girls drifting in and out, he certainly wasn't complaining about the time. Ricky frowned at his outfit, a grey button down shirt with dark skinny jeans…Maybe he was dressed a little too causally. Then he shrugged. Ricky Underwood had never needed to try to impress the girls and so he didn't need to start now.

"Hey," Ricky heard a soft voice behind him. He turned around, expecting Amy in her normal, good-girl clothes. But there she was, looking both innocent and tempting at the same time. Amy wasn't hot, and she wasn't sexy, a complete polar opposite from the majorettes he usually 'hung out' with. However, she was pretty; she was beautiful and gorgeous in her own little angelic way. Amy looked so alluring in her pretty white dress that Ricky wanted to take her right then and there, but that would've scared her and would shatter the illusion of the broken hearted boy he had created.

"Hey Amy. You look…really nice." He shook his head in wonder. All right, so he was milking it a little but he really wanted Amy and turning on the charm would only work to his advantage.

"Thanks…" she smiled, blushing again. "You look really good too."

Ricky grinned. "Shall we?" he held out his hooked arm. Amy blushed even harder and took his arm, accidentally dropping her clutch as she did so. "Oh…sorry." She bent down to pick it up, but not before Ricky had reached down with his long arms and grabbed it for her. She paused, mid-bend and took it from him smiling shyly, straightening once again. He smirked in a friendly way and she looked away, her face bright red. During this display of maidenly-shame Ricky's eyes drifted downwards and got a healthy look of her exposed chest. His tongue subconsciously ran across the bottom of his upper lip as he eyed her soft skin. When Amy looked back shyly at him, he was once again the composed, charming predator.

As they stepped into the hall, the smell of sickly sweet punch hit them and the sharp, blaring lights danced around them in a frenzy. Amy blinked and scrunched up her nose, the sights and sounds so foreign and uncomfortable to her pure mind, that she was quite disoriented for a moment.

Ricky on the other hand, was perfectly at home in the club, not because he went clubbing very often, but because he attended this dance every year. It was almost like a routine to him now, the annual gathering of hot cheerleaders and pretty band geeks, from which he could just pick and choose at a whim.

The voice of the DJ rang out across the room, with the fuzzy sound of leaning too far into a microphone.

"All right, everybody havin' fun?" he paused to let the whole room erupt into cheers and whoops. "That's great, now let's slow things down a little so y'all can catch up with your little lovers." At this, there was more cheering. Then it turned quiet as "Collide" by Howie Day came on. Amy looked nervously up at Ricky and he smiled easily at her. He gently wound his arms around her slim waist and she, taking the hint, wrapped her arms around his neck. Ricky leaned in so that their bodies were pressed against one another. Amy, with her heart pounding, rested her head on his shoulder and let the sweet ballad-like song wash over her as she imagined going back to school holding Ricky's hands, her watching him graduate and him coming back from university to watch her. She imagined them getting a flat together, getting married, having children and sitting on the front porch together when they were old and frail, but still very much in love. She sighed. Oh the future looked so blissful when she was in Ricky's arms.

Ricky heard her sigh and leaned back a little to look her in the eyes. He frowned in concern. "Are you all right Amy?" She laughed lightly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just imagining the future…Y'know…maybe with you?" she phrased the last question nervously, blushing gently as she watched him. Ricky blanched inwardly but kept his warm demeanour and smiled gently at her.

"Maybe…" he leaned in again, closing the space he had created between them. He heard her sigh in contentment again and lean her head against the crook of his neck. Feeling her warm breath against his neck was…beyond blissful.

When the song ended, both drew back smiling.

"Well…that was…interesting," Amy smiled at him.

"Interesting how?" he smirked, which caused Amy to blush again. Before giving her time to answer, he drew in and whispered in her ear, "You wanna go some place quieter so you can tell me?"

Judging from her suddenly red-hot cheeks and shining eyes, it was a yes. Ricky took her hand and led her through a small shortcut door, revealing one of the more comfortable looking practice rooms. There was a plump sofa against the wall and all the orchestra practice instruments were there, either in cupboards or just leaning against the wall.

He let go of her hand and walked towards a storage cupboard. Amy recognized it as the cupboard where they kept their instruments. As Ricky disappeared behind one of the shelves, Amy was in a flurry. Her heart was pounding so hard, she could feel it reverberating throughout her whole body and her palms had become clammy and wet. She wiped them nervously against the seat of her pants as she waited for Ricky to emerge. He came out, holding a familiar wooden case. Her French horn.

Ricky walked up to her and pushed her gently down to sit on the sofa. He set the French horn down beside her and grabbed a plastic chair and sat down facing her. Gesturing towards the horn he said, smiling, "Play for me." Amy wanted to say shake her head with embarrassment, but how could she, when those mesmerizing brown eyes were pinning her down?

Slowly, with trembling hands, she took out the French horn, and after the routinely tuning she did, she took a deep breath and started to play. In Amy's mind, she had no idea what she was going to play but as soon as she hit the first key, she realized she was playing a piece from Peter and the Wolf. Memories flooded back to her from her childhood, when her mother had taken her and Ashley to see the orchestra play. She remembered how much her mother had loved the part of the wolf that had been played by the French horn. She also remembered that childish flood of determination that she had, to learn the French horn and to make her mother proud of her. So lost in her memories and past was Amy that she didn't realize that Ricky, who was watching her with admiration, was slowly leaning in and placing his hand on her cheek. Only when she felt his soft but callused palm on her skin did she jump and mess up. The sound that came out of the French horn was beyond embarrassing and she felt her cheeks rapidly becoming a florescent cherry red.

"S-sorry, I'm not very good," Amy started, apologetically, but Ricky cut her off.

"No, no that's not true Amy. I should be the one saying sorry. I didn't mean to touch you like that it's just…you're so beautiful," at this he smiled, his mind feeding his mouth cheesy lines to spout, the key to winning Amy's…let's face it, virtue. Amy smiled and looked down at her hands. Ricky reached out again, gently pushing her chin up to look at him. He set aside her French horn on the floor and sat down beside her.

Gently, he took her face in his hands and kissed her. She returned it, nervously but willing. Ricky slid his hands to her hair and his fingers got knotted into the smooth copper waves. Amy's hand went from her lap to his waist, and she revelled in the feeling of his hard-muscled body under her hands. He kissed her more passionately and gently pushed her back onto the couch. His hands slid under her clothes preparing to take it off when she pulled back.

"R-Ricky, what are you doing?" she exclaimed, taking her hands off him.

"I…I just thought we were both enjoying this." He frowned, looking uncertain. His mind, however, was whirring, quickly spinning a fairytale-prince speech that would convince Amy to sleep with him. "Amy…I love you. I love you so much and I…I want to be with you forever."

Amy's eyes were flooded with confusion and uncertainty, and she said gently, remembering all the things her dad had warned her about when they had 'The Talk', "I really like you too Ricky but…I'm too young. I just…don't think we should be doing this."

Ricky hearing her good girl speech, changed tactics. "Well…I guess…I mean, if you don't love me enough that's fine." His voice was tinged with an icy edge, enough to make Amy worried and hurt.

"No, no, Ricky, I didn't mean that! I just…" she paused, giving Ricky the chance he needed, to say, "Amy…I love you more than anything in this world and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Please, I just want to be your first and share what I have with you. I want to love you…Please, just let me love you." And with his pleading brown eyes, he knowingly sealed the deal with the innocent, copper-headed girl.

Amy, pushing away her fear and uncertainty said, "I love you too Ricky. And…I guess I want you to be my first too." With that, she pressed her lips to his, and after a moment's 'hesitation' from Ricky, he deepened it. Ricky was getting what he wanted, and of course, why wouldn't he?

_**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter to what, I hope, is a 'never ending' story. I do want this story to go on for some time because I think it's important not to jump straight into "Oh Ricky's in love with Amy" or "Amy's in love with Ricky" because they weren't. Not at the start anyway and I imagine their relationship to be a slow kind of process. I don't want this to start out with them being in love, because then, what do I have to write about? I do want to explore the fact that "Ben and Amy did really love each other (for a while)" and "Ricky and Adrian really did love each other too (if only for a while as well!)". So...I hope you stick with me throughout this whole thing, and enjoy:)**_

**_P.S I did rate this story as T because it's obviously exploring some topics that aren't suitable for young children. So...just wanted to get that out there:)_**

**_P.P.S This chapter has been rewritten and is a combination of the first 3 chapters from the original._**

**_xx Sophie._**


	2. The Aftermath of Band Camp

He got off the sofa, zipping his jeans up over his boxers. It was getting late and he had to get back to the party before the ladies realized he was gone. Plus, he smirked mentally, he wanted to squeeze just one last girl in before he decided to head back to his block. Ricky reached down and picked up his shirt from the floor and swung it over his shoulder. He looked over to the girl on the sofa who was half undressed and whose hair were all roughed up, and smiled. It wasn't a warm smile; in fact it was quite the opposite. It was a calculated, triumphantly amused smile. The girl flinched at it, her mind reeling.

Amy stared up at Ricky, her eyes betraying how confused and scared she was. Where was he going, what was he doing? Was he just going to _leave_ her there? Her mind was filled with a torrent of questions that she was too scared to answer. She looked at Ricky beseechingly, begging him to tell her that he wasn't leaving her, to say those heart-melting words all over again.

But he didn't and Amy had a feeling he never would, not to her, not to anyone. She had fallen into his web of lies and he had torn her heart into tattered pieces, leaving her begging for the crumbs of his affection.

Ricky shrugged at her, still smiling that jubilant smile. Amy was no longer the pristine, pretty girl he met at the door of the hall. No, she was a mess, her clothes everywhere, the pretty hair undone and messy and there was a light sheen of sweat covering her face and body. Finally, she seemed to work up the courage to speak and, nervously with voice cracking, she said, "R-Ricky, where are you going?" Her voice was laced with fear and she bit down upon her lip, a habit she subconsciously submitted to when she was worried.

"Amy, Amy, Amy. I thought you knew we were just having a little fun." He smiled lazily down at her. "You didn't _really_ think we'd be together forever did you?" Ricky returned his shot with the speed of a well-trained highwayman, fully knowing that she _did_ think they'd be together forever, and that she _did_ think he was the one for her.

Amy blanched at his tone, wincing at what he said. His voice was no longer sweet and edged with a little sadness and pain. It was now cunning and smooth, the voice of someone who had got what he wanted one time too many times, the voice of a predator. He watched her nonchalantly, and she squirmed under his gaze. Amy could tell, she could tell that the indifference was feigned. Ricky wasn't just _looking_ at her, no; he was mentally undressing her all over again, as if doing it physically had not been enough to satisfy his filthy appetite. Not that there was much undressing to be done. Disgust cut through her anguish and too late did she realize that she had been used, and that Ricky was just bored and looking for…she couldn't bring herself to even think the word, it felt so dirty to her. She looked up at him again, broken yet not angry, because she just couldn't do it. She didn't want to believe that the kind, broken-hearted boy that she thought she knew was simply just an illusion. Then the motive of his actions dawned on her and sunk in, deep. He had fed her that story. Just to get her into bed. Ricky was just going to leave her there, heart in pieces and half undressed, like a toy that he'd gotten tired of playing with.

He grinned one last time at her and slipped out the door. The party was still on and he shrugged into his shirt so that the teacher patrons wouldn't glare at him and pull him aside to rant about the rules of dress code. Ricky quickly buttoned his shirt, but not before a few of the cheerleaders and majorettes had seen his toned body. They smiled seductively at him and beckoned.

Ricky tilted his head and grinned at them. He was being sucked into their world of short skirts, drinking and boys, and he couldn't be happier. Turning, he sauntered towards them, but not fast enough, for they practically reached out and grabbed his shirt to pull him in. However, he stepped back a little, steering himself slightly out of their reach and said, "Excuse me ladies, I'm just gonna go grab a drink. I'll be right back."

He smirked at them and left. He wasn't going to get a drink. The mere smell of drink made him sick to his stomach. Ricky might have had too much indiscriminate sex and he might have had it with multiple girls but he didn't drink or do drugs. No, those were offences he never committed. Not since…No, he wasn't going to think about that. He shoved his hands into his pockets and strode off to the bathroom to check his hair and straighten up. He felt something familiar in his pocket, something with a sharp edge. Frowning, Ricky pulled it out and went pale. In his hands, lay a familiar square packet, with the words "Extra Thin! Protect Yourself From STDs and Pregnancies". He looked up, heart pounding, forehead breaking out into a sweat.

What had he done?

_Beep beep. Beep beep_. The shrill sound of Amy's alarm clock shook her out of her heavy slumber. She sat up, groaning at the wave of light-headedness that swept over her. Resting her head in her hands, she tried to shut out the sounds of her mother shouting at her to get ready for school.

School. Amy groaned again. The last two weeks after band camp had disappeared in a blur and now, summer was over, which meant no sleeping in and no more sitting around idly reading as much or as little as she chose. She lugged herself out of bed and had to grab onto the bedside table to stop her from toppling over. Amy shook herself in annoyance. What had gotten into her? She checked the calendar and saw "Time of Month" written in bold letters across the whole week. No wonder. Gently pushing herself off from the bedside table, she headed towards the bathroom. What she didn't realize was the aforementioned whole week had, in fact happened _two weeks before_.

Amy's mother, Anne, was making pancakes for the first day of school. However, unlike the anticipated smooth breakfast timetable she had planned, everything was everywhere. They were out of syrup and Amy's father, George, was still in bed, and Ashley and Amy were arguing in their shared bathroom about who had used up the last smidgeon of toothpaste. She sighed as she thought about Amy. Ever since she had come home from band camp she had been grouchy and often complained about nausea and light-headedness. A worry line dented the area between her eyebrows as she frowned, shaking her head. Teenagers.

The Juergens' family car rolled into the school's driveway and skidded to a stop. Anne turned around from the front seat to smile at Amy.

"Have a great first day Amy," she smiled again, this time reassuringly. Amy grimaced nervously back, trying to squeeze out a smile. There were butterflies flitting around her stomach and something made her wonder if they were _just_ 'first day jitters'. She shook the thought away and stepped out the car, slinging her book bag over her shoulder.

"Bye mom," she turned to leave as she said so.

"Bye Amy! I love you!" Anne called, leaning her head out the driver's window.

Her daughter turned and smiled at her one last time before walking into the doors of Grant High School. As Anne turned the car around to drive Ashley to her middle school, she fervently hoped that her little girl would have a good first day.

Amy looked down at her sheet of paper, telling her what her timetable was and where her locker was. Looking around, she saw Gale and her majorette friends at their lockers. Gale smiled and waved and Amy returned the greeting, before continuing down the hall. She walked nervously to her allocated locker and was relieved to see Madison and Lauren pelting down the hallway towards her.

"Amy! We've missed you so much! How was your summer?" Madison gushed unfailingly for about a minute before Amy finally managed to get a word in. Lauren, who was standing beside Madison just rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Summer was…it was okay. A lot of French horn practice though," she smiled and prompted them to talk about their summer. As anticipated, Madison went first.

"I had a LOT of fun in Spain, there was so much good food to eat!" and she rambled on in a similar fashion for another 30 seconds before Lauren clamped her hand down on Madison's mouth and said, "Oh shush up Madison! You talk too much." At this remark, Madison closed her mouth and looked at her reproachfully. Lauren turned back to Amy and said, "My summer was pretty good but we had to go see Jason at med camp and that was just boring." Amy laughed gently at Lauren's expression before Madison started chattering on about the boys she had seen in Spain, along with a rather confusing jumble of everything else that came to her mind.

Suddenly, the warning bell for class ripped across the gentle rumble of the students' chatter. The sound rang in Amy's head, bringing back the wave of nausea, hitting her with full force.

"Come on, we've got to go to class!" Madison grabbed Lauren and Amy's arms, preparing to rush off the way she came. This sudden movement caused Amy's mind to reel as if an earthquake had struck her and thrown her tumbling into a chasm of darkness. She leaned against her locker, face white and eyes closed.

"You guys go on first," she forced out. Madison and Lauren looked her uncertainly and said gently, "All right. We'll see you later then Amy." They turned away and hurried to their class. Amy, face clenched, stumbled towards the girl's bathroom.

Pushing open the door, she felt as if the world was spinning around her and groaned as she put her weight on the door handle. Amy steeled herself and walked in. The clean white tiles and bright lights only made the sickening sensation heighten, so that Amy clutched her head and leaned her elbows against the mirror.

She stared down at the clean, white porcelain sink and the image of her vomit spattered all over it flitted into her mind. She groaned again, and pressed her forehead against the bathroom mirror, revelling in the cool sensation of it.

Then, suddenly she heard the bell again, screeching at the students to get to class or receive a duly served punishment. Amy cried out, unable to take it any longer. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She was going to be sick.

It took her all her might to turn away from the sink and fling herself into one of the cubicles. She took relief in knowing that she could flush down all traces of sick down the toilet, so that no one need ever know. She threw up, stomach curdling and mind pounding, into the toilet bowl. She used one hand to pull her hair back from her face and the other to hold onto the bowl to steady herself. Again and again she threw up into the toilet, and she felt as if her insides were hurling themselves up as fast as they could go. The feeling made her weak and dizzy and she begged her body to stop. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, she burped up the last spew of vomit and she sat back against the cubicle wall. Then, she heard something that made her sit up, alert and flustered. Footsteps. With horror, she realized she hadn't closed the cubicle door when she had stumbled towards the toilet. Amy tried to get up and close it but she couldn't reach. She was still dizzy, and nausea swept through her again when she tried to get up. She closed her eyes, praying that they would change their mind and go back to class. Silence. Then…

"Amy?"

Amy looked up, cringing with embarrassment when she heard a voice call her name. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was.

"Gale?" her voice betrayed her shock and surprise. The sound that came out her throat was small and it reeked of 'needy-sick-girl'. She cringed again at how weak it sounded.

Gale rushed forward to kneel beside her. "Oh Gad, Amy are you alright?" her Tennessee accent shone through her sweet chirpy voice. The smell of vomit hit her and she wrinkled her nose. "Oh honey, let's get you to the nurse or something." Gale proceeded to try and pull Amy up but she resisted. She frowned down at the sick girl at her feet and said coaxingly, "Amy? Hon, we've gotta get you to the nurse."

Amy, who had closed her eyes, murmured, "No no, its okay. Its just period problems, I always get a little dizzy at the start of the month."

Gale noticed how she said 'start of the month' and not 'time of month'. Her brows crinkled in confusion and she pointed out, in her blunt, friendly way, "You mean 'time of month'?"

Amy's eyes blinked open and she said, chuckling a little, "No I meant 'start of month'." Seeing Gale's confusion, she explained. "My period starts on the first week of every month."

Gale's eyes widened. "Uh…Hon, it's already the 22nd of August." Amy's eyes, in turn, blinked wider.

"What?" she choked out. No…she couldn't be late! She was never late! Fear washed through her, immersing her so thoroughly that she felt as if she was going to throw up again. Her body lurched, and she could feel a new tidal wave of vomit threatening to hurl over and out.

"Whoa, steady there. Maybe it's just a 'one time' thing. Don't worry, you'll probably get it when you get home or something." Gale attempted to reassure Amy, rubbing her back gently and smiling. "I mean, it's not like you had sex the past month or anything right?" she joked, trying to make Amy laugh.

Instead, she blanched, and looked up fearfully at Gale. "N-no…I mean…" Amy tried to convince herself that everything was going to be all right. But a little bird in the back of her head made her restless. Something wasn't right…a fundamental something. "Wait…it's been two weeks since we got back from band camp right?" Amy's eyes were fearful as she asked this.

Gale looked away, not wanting to answer. "No…it's been a month." She said this slowly, unsure of Amy's reaction.

Amy paled. Two weeks late! She was two weeks late!

Desperately trying to assure Amy, Gale said, "But its okay right? You haven't had sex before or anything, so it's not like you're pregnant."

However, instead of having the desired calming effect that Gale has anticipated, Amy only paled further. Gale stared at Amy, wide-eyed.

"You had sex? When? Oh Lord it was during band camp wasn't it? Was it Ricky? Amy talk to me!"

Stuttering and heart pounding, Amy told her. "I…it was at the dance. He…" she paused, unable to tell Gale something that had caused her so much humiliation, so much pain. But Gale, with her ever so straight forward manner said, "Go on!"

Amy took a deep breath and continued. "He told me he loved me. He told me that we would be together for the rest of our lives. He said he wanted to be my first…" she trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes. Gale, who was incredulously astounded, cried, "And you believed him? Oh Amy, honey, when I said 'Go get some hot stuff' I meant have a little flirt, have some fun! Not lose your v-card to the guy! Amy I thought you knew him! I thought you knew he was a player!" Not even Gale's strange way of talking could make Amy laugh. She merely whispered, "I…I thought he loved me."

Gale sat down beside Amy and wrapped her arms around her, softly comforting her. "Oh honey, it'll be all right." And they sat like this for a while, until Gale jumped up and said, "Well, we have to make sure. No point scarin' the pants outta ourselves before we're really sure." Her tone was decided and Amy looked at her with watery admiration at Gale's courage. Gale pulled her up and started towing her decidedly towards the big, orange doors of the Grant High.

Amy, who was flustered and slightly uncoordinated stumbled after her asking, "Wh-where are we going?" she pulled her arm back, wondering what Gale was doing _out_ of class. "Why are you even out of class?" she frowned, unable to fathom any reason for anyone to want to skip class.

Gale rolled her eyes, smiling at Amy's innocent question. "I got bored and I thought a toilet break was an awesome solution. And now, it looks like I've been very helpfully dragged into something that might just take all day." She said this with an air of excitement and glee.

Amy laughed properly for the first time that day. "Well, I'm glad to be such a help to you." For a second, she had forgotten the terrible predicament that could very well change her life. Then it all came flooding back to her when Gale grabbed her hand again and walked purposefully towards the doors.

"All right, no more dithering hon. Let's go get you a pregnancy test."

Amy winced at the word 'pregnancy' and allowed herself to be dragged outside.

Gale slammed the door behind them and locked it as they hid in the public toilet outside the drugstore. She paused, looking at Amy uncertainly.

"So…you wanna do this alone? I'll wait for you here if you want." Amy nodded, her eyes quietly thanking Gale for the little that she had done for her, the little that meant the world to Amy.

Slipping into the bathroom, she prayed to whoever was up there that she wasn't pregnant, that she was just late and it everything would be all right. Amy read the box carefully and followed the instructions meticulously, for she didn't want to make a mistake. Minutes later, she came out, holding the stick away from her like it carried a disease.

"Look for me please," she begged Gale. Gale looked uncertain and Amy said again, "Please Gale. Please…"

Gale reluctantly took the stick and her breath caught in her throat. Amy looked at her desperately, willing her not to say what neither of them wanted to hear. Gale's voice came out in a whisper, cracked and scared.

"Positive."

**_Suspense! Haha or not...I hope you felt it:) I also hope you totally enjoyed this chapter and I definitely hope you guys review and everything else:D _**

**_xx Sophie._**


	3. Of Positives, Adrian and Ben

It was positive. It couldn't be positive. Amy turned her head to look fearfully at Gale, but she did not see her. She saw her whole future; Julliard, marriage, children, teaching, all come crashing down and turn into a black, static fuzz, as if someone had unwound a video tape too quickly, breaking it beyond repair. That was her life now. Broken. Her future ripped from her very grasp.

Amy sank to the ground, heaving sobs of pain and despair. Gale hurriedly got down on her knees beside her and draped a long arm around Amy's shoulders, murmuring unintelligible words of comfort to her. But Amy wasn't listening. She couldn't hear anything except a loud keening in her ears that just wouldn't go away. Tears ran down her face like veins on a leaf, twisting and turning, their direction uncertain and sporadic. Juts like her future. Amy's mind was detached from her body, and cried numbly, not feeling and not caring, but that didn't stop the pain. It washed through her, like a tidal wave of despair, threatening to knock her off her feet.

Numbly, she heard Gale say gently, "Come on Amy, we need to get you home. I'll give you a ride, and you go get some rest y'hear?" Then she felt Gale's soft hands pulling her up and slipping around her waist so that she could lean her head on Gale's angled shoulders.

As they walked out of the building, Amy saw people staring at them, children, men & women, of every shape, size and colour, their gazes accusing and suspicious. Then, suddenly, the faint smell Gale's strawberry shampoo wafted over to her as Gale leaned in and whispered, "Don't take any notice of them old buggers." Amy smiled weakly at Gale's ridiculously strange slang. They approached Gale's car, and Gale opened the passenger seat and pushed Amy gently but firmly in. Then she went around and stepped in herself. Revving up the engine, she quickly sped Amy home.

Amy tapped nervously on her front door, attempting to check if anyone was home. She heard footsteps and her heart dropped. Anne's plump but pretty face emerged from behind the classic white front door. Her eyes widened in surprise at seeing Amy, and what's more, at seeing Amy with a stranger.

"Amy, why are you home?" Anne's voice was edged with the unconcealed concern and suspicion. Amy opened her mouth to speak but Gale beat her to it.

"Amy wasn't feeling well, Mrs. Juergens, and I saw her when I was on my way to the toilet so I said I'd give her a lift back here." Gale said this solemnly, attempting to play the 'mature' card.

Anne's brows furrowed in unease, and she gently felt Amy's forehead.

"Well, you're a little warm Amy, but I don't think it's anything serious." Then she peered more closely at Amy, and saw the paleness of her daughter's face, the light sheen of sweat that resided over her bleached out skin. "You might have come down with something, I'll call in to the school to tell them you won't be returning to class." Saying this she started to walk away, "Go lie down on the sofa Amy and I'll get the thermometer."

Amy turned to Gale, all ready to invite her in but Gale said gently, "That's okay, I'll be goin' now Amy." Amy tried to protest but Gale cut her off.

"I don't want to disturb your rest Amy," she smiled. "You have a good sleep and-" she lowered her voice confidentially, "I think you should tell your mom. She'll help you out. If you need me, just call kay?" With that last remark, she smiled, ruffled Amy's hair, and turned to leave.

Amy watched her saunter down the walkway of her front porch and at the last minute, just before Gale opened the door to her car, she called, "Thanks Gale." She smiled, truly thankful for a friend like Gale. Gale turned and smiled back at her. "Any time Amy, any time," she drawled, tipping her head to her, as if she had a cowboy hat propped precariously on her head. Amy grinned one last time before timidly shutting the door and pulling herself towards the sofa, sinking down upon it with relief.

Anne walked out of the kitchen, shaking the thermometer. She noticed the absence of Gale and said, "Where's your friend?" Amy shook her head, grinning a little ruefully. "She had to go back to class." Anne nodded, and handed Amy the thermometer. She put it gingerly under her tongue and sank back onto the cushions, sighing with muffled content. Anne didn't say anything only watched her, and slowly but surely, Amy fell into a deep sleep.

Amy stirred uneasily and looked up groggily at the living room clock. Three thirty. Had she really been down for more than 4 hours? She tried to sit up but then groaned, resting back on the sofa once again. The spinning sensation was beyond horrible and her head felt too heavy for her neck to support.

"But we've got to see her! She didn't come to class at all and we haven't seen her ALL day!" Amy recognized Madison's high-pitched, chirpy voice and Lauren's husky one agreeing with her.

"I'm afraid she's sleeping right now but I'll tell her to give you a call when she wakes up okay?" And with that, she heard her mother firmly shut the door in their faces. A sigh of exasperation escaped Anne's lips and she walked into the living room again.

"Amy! Oh good, you're awake. I've made an appointment with Dr. Hightower tomorrow, just to check for anything major." Amy nodded weakly and Anne smiled uneasily at her. "You look wrecked. Do you want to sleep some more or do you want to help me out with dinner?" she gestured with her thumb towards the kitchen.

Amy made to get up and said, "I think I'll help you out with dinner. I've slept enough" and she grinned apologetically at her mother. Anne smiled, looking a little more reassured that Amy was able to get up and walk around again. She walked off towards the kitchen, with Amy at her heels, following feebly but with an air of determination.

As Anne bustled around the kitchen in her usual fashion, Amy tried to be useful by fetching ingredients from the fridge and cupboards. Then Anne said, "Amy, would you get me the big wooden salad bowl from the bottom cupboard?" Amy nodded, "Sure."

She bent down to get the bowl, but a sudden wave of nausea made her rock back on her heels and fall down, hard, on her tailbone. Anne, hearing the thump, turned around, alarmed.

"Amy are you all right?" concerned, she tried to pull Amy up but she sat there, stiffly trying to stop the world rocking and spinning around her. She pushed her head between her knees and breathed deeply and forcefully.

"Amy what's wrong? Come on, let's get you to bed." Anne tried to haul Amy up but she resisted with painful determination.

"Make it stop Mom, make it stop!" Amy moaned holding her head.

"Amy, honey, make what stop?" Anne asked, now genuinely alarmed and scared.

"Everything's spinning a-and I can't make it stop!" Amy cried out, sobbing.

Oh Amy, I don't know what to do, Anne thought, hating the pain that came from watching her daughter suffer.

She left Amy's side and picked up her cell phone from the kitchen counter, quickly dialling a number.

"Hello, 911, how may I help you?" a voice chirped from the other side.

The ambulance sped with alarming speed towards the hospital, with Amy and Anne in it. Amy was throwing up into what seemed like the millionth vomit bag. Anne was watching her worriedly, while the doctors in the van tended to her.

They seemed helpless to help her daughter, and when Anne pointed this out very angrily, all they could say was that they couldn't determine or charge any medicine without any tests.

"Let her throw up. Eventually there will be nothing left for her to throw up except water, by which time we should reach the hospital." They refused to say anymore, or try and diagnosis the sickness. It was just too risky and pregnant women could not take the medicines they had. Indeed, they _did_ suspect that Amy was pregnant. However, they chose not to mention that and to allow the girl to tell her mother in time. Vomiting could do Amy Juergens no harm. All women went through it during the early stages of pregnancy and there didn't seem to be anything out of the common in Amy's case.

In the hospital room, Amy sat, worn out from vomiting the contents of her stomach out, waiting for the doctor to come. She had done a number of tests, a few of them involving taking samples of her urine. Anne was beside her holding her hand, brow furrowed.

The door opened and a female doctor walked in. She shook Anne's hand and touched Amy's shoulder.

"Mrs. Juergens, would you mind leaving the room for a minute or two while I speak to Amy?" her tone was polite but both Amy and her mother could tell that the question was just rhetorical. Anne really didn't have much a choice but to wait outside. She pursed her lips and left the room, closing the door gently behind her.

The doctor, Dr. Mansfield, took Amy's hand and said, very slowly and cautiously, "Amy. Do you…Are you aware of any sort of changes taking place in your body?"

Amy frowned, feigning ignorance. Her heart was pounding and her palms had started to sweat. She drew it away hurriedly. "No, not at all."

Dr. Mansfield frowned. Perhaps she doesn't know yet, she thought. She decided to ask Amy a tester question, to see if she would be honest with her.

"Amy, I understand that this may be a little awkward but have you had sex for the past two months?" Amy's eyes widened, and they darted frantically around. Ah, so she did know, the doctor thought uneasily. Amy looked at her pleadingly and her voice came out hoarse and scared.

"Please…Please don't tell my mom. I want to be the one to tell her."

The doctor searched her face, and all she saw was a frightened fifteen-year-old girl. She nodded, and patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Very well, Amy. But I expect you to tell her before the month is out." She turned around to the counter and looked through the medicine cupboard. Her voice turned professional and business-like.

"I'll prescribe you some pills to control the nausea, and I also suggest you take the vitamins."

Amy was fully aware that this wasn't a free clinic. Medicine and vitamins cost money. Money she didn't have. She looked up at the doctor, fearful. "B-but I can't pay for these. And my mom can't either, because then she'll know." The doctor turned and smiled at Amy. "Don't worry, I'll send the cost to your house in a month via phone call." Amy tried to smile back, but instead, a fretful grimace was smeared across her face. She would have to tell her mom in a month. Sooner or later, she was going to find out. But later. She would tell her later. When the time was right, Amy reassured herself.

She left the room, a clear outline of what to lie about when her mother asked what the doctor had said. As anticipated, "Amy!" her mother enclosed her in a hug. Then she pulled back and looked at her. "What did Dr. Mansfield say?"

Amy took a deep breath and gritted her teeth to stop them from shuddering. "S-She said that I had just caught a stomach bug and she gave me some medicine." Amy held up the bag.

Anne snatched it and rootled through it. She drew out the little bottles of pills and tried to read the label. She wrinkled her brow, just the way Amy wrinkled hers, and said, "There's nothing on these labels except a letter. What do they mean Amy?"

Amy thanked God that Dr. Mansfield had only written letters to tell Amy which pills were which. Her mom would never figure out what they really meant.

"Oh, that's just a system that Dr. Mansfield worked out so that she could save time. See the A stands for the pills that will balance out the acid in my stomach…" and Amy rambled on for a while, making up names and pill functions as she went along. Anne bought it, as worry had gotten into her head and she was willing to believe anything that would help cure Amy of her 'bug'. Little did she know that the bug…was a child.

"Amy!" Madison and Lauren came running down the hallway towards Amy. They threw their arms around her and Amy nearly fell back from the force of the hug.

They drew back and looked at her with big, worried eyes. "Amy! Are you okay? What happened yesterday? You didn't turn up to class or anything! We were _so_ worried," Madison gushed in her usual fashion.

Amy went pale. They were her best friends. She could tell them anything, and she could be sure they wouldn't blab.

"I…I haven't been completely honest with you guys about what I did over summer." Madison and Lauren frowned. Why was Amy talking about summer? She took a deep breath and went on.

"I…I met a guy at band camp…" At this, Madison squealed loudly, but Lauren could sense that Amy's story wasn't over.

She nudged Madison and said, "Go on," to Amy.

"We…we did it." Madison and Lauren froze, staring at her, horrified, with a hint of awe in their eyes. It was silent for a minute before, "OH MY GOSH! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US? OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! WHO WAS IT? WAS IT THAT GUY WITH THE TRUMPET? TELL US!". Madison's voice loud and filled with excitement. She jumped up and down, her insides evidently burning with curiosity. Lauren just looked uncertainly at Amy, not saying anything.

Tears started forming in Amy's eyes and threatened to spill over.

"I'm pregnant." Madison's squealing stopped short and it sounded as if someone had cut her throat, the stopping of excitement was that abrupt. Lauren stared at her, fearful and Madison brought her hands to her mouth. They stared, all three of them, shocked and devastated, at each other.

Amy heard someone walking towards them behind her. She didn't think that they would actually stop to talk to them. They were freshmen, and freshmen stuck to themselves for the first few months.

Then, a hand touched her arm. It sent watts of electric currents running to the very tips of her toes, and all the way back up again. She looked down at the hand on her arm. It looked so very familiar, large, callused but still sensitive, with a light dusting of golden brown hair running up the arms. Her eyes travelled up the arm, up the collarbone, and up to a face.

Ricky Underwood's face.

Amy jumped, a small scream escaping her lips.

"Ricky!" She snatched her arm out of his grasp, remembering what they had done during band camp. Staring at him wide-eyed, she felt tears forming and threatening to spill over.

Ricky grinned at her. Then he noticed Madison and Lauren flanking Amy, looking at him suspiciously. He turned to gaze at them and said disdainfully, "Could you ladies give us a minute?" They started at being addressed to, and looked over at Amy. Amy inclined her head slightly and murmured, "I'll see you guys later." Madison and Lauren walked off, looking back at Amy and Ricky a couple of times before turning the corner towards class.

Ricky turned to look back down at Amy. He smirked arrogantly at her uncomfortable expression. She had her arms crossed over her torso, looking so very much like a 'schoolgirl' that Ricky wanted to laugh. In his heart, he felt a little uncomfortable about having taken advantage of her but she had been willing enough…kind of.

"What do you want from me?" Amy's tone was scared, and her voice shook as she tried to stand up to him.

He laughed outright at her expression, before he saw the small fire burning behind her eyes, behind the 'schoolgirl' expression. He held up his hands in mock defeat and laughed.

"Nothing, nothing! Just wanted to catch up with little Amy, that's all." His tone was patronizing, amused. Amy cringed at his voice, remembering when it had been soft, and had sounded so sweet to her innocent ears. Ricky continued with his effort to have a 'little chat' with her.

"What were you three talking about just now? I always see you huddled up together, whispering," he wrinkled his nose as he looked down to where Madison and Lauren had just turned the corner. "They giggle more often than I blink. Why are you friends with people like that Amy?" These words, on paper perhaps, would have looked kind and caring. However, when they poured out of Ricky's mouth, they sounded annoyed and condescending.

"They don't giggle _that_ much. It's none of your business," Amy said this roughly, looking away. Ricky chuckled.

"Oh now now, let's not get all annoyed at me. We were just having a little fun at band camp! It wasn't like a marriage proposal or anything." He laughed again, and the sound scratched at Amy's ears. Ricky's voice was husky, almost menacing, and when he laughed, Amy saw her whole world tumbling around him. Instinctively, she tightened her arms around her stomach. Ricky's laugh died away and he smirked at her again.

"You haven't answered my question yet. What _were_ you three talking about just now?" Amy's voice caught in her throat, and her eyes widened. She couldn't tell him. No, she couldn't tell him, not yet. Her voice stuttered out of her open lips.

"N-nothing…just school…and stuff."

Upon hearing this, Ricky shook his head pityingly at her. School stuff? They were only a week or so into the year and they were talking about school? He chuckled at her expression. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. Ah, little Amy Juergens. So innocent…or at least until he had corrupted her.

"All right, whatever you say then." He was about to continue when he saw a voluptuous girl stalk into the hallway. 'Let the games begin', he thought, a devious grin tugging at the corner of his lips as he caught the eye of the girl.

Adrian Lee looked over at him and smiled, seductively. Then she realized he was standing with another girl who was also looking at her, with an expression that was a mild fusion between apprehension and confusion. Adrian hissed a little, her eyes narrowing at the girl. She jumped back and looked away hurriedly. Good.

Ricky saw Adrian hiss at Amy, and though, deep inside, he felt a strange need to protect Amy from Adrian's spite and jealousy, outside, he grinned with anticipation. Things were about to become more interesting at this gossip mill of a school.

He turned back to Amy and smiled at her, with a loving expression. Amy flinched back. What was he doing? Ricky continued to smile at her and, slowly, and ever so gently, he cupped her face in his calloused but sensitive palm. He ran his thumb down the pane of her cheek and felt the soft skin under his fingertips. A strand of her copper coloured hair swooped down gently so that it tickled the back of his hand. Before she could reach to push it back, he ran his fingers through her hair, pretending to revel in the soft smell of vanilla that wafted to him.

Amy's eyes were scared, but inside, she was melting. Was the Ricky she had known, back? She remembered his touch and his smell, and she wanted, above all, to know that he would be there for her and love her. But then he turned away to the Spanish girl that had been watching them and grinned. The girl hissed again and her eyes blazed with fire. Amy's heart, which had been so gingerly pieced back together, fell into painful shards once again onto the floor. So this was all a game. She stepped back angrily from Ricky.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

Ricky looked down at her, surprised. He recovered quickly and smiled at her.

"Just a little fun Amy, just a little fun." He smirked at her expression. Then, in a business-like tone, "I have to go get to class so I'll see you around. Later." He grinned lazily down at her and touched her face one last time before striding off towards Adrian.

Amy looked back at him, her eyes filling with innocent tears. What was she going to do? She was pregnant, at fifteen, and the child's father couldn't give a damn, even if he wanted to.

Quietly, and painfully, she turned back to her locker and, leaning her head on the cool metal, she cried. Little Amy Juergens cried, because her heart had been torn to shreds, and she was pregnant, and because she felt like her life was over.

Adrian looked angrily at Ricky as he strode over.

"What do you want?" she asked, hostile. Ricky gave a mock start at her tone, and then grinned.

"Hostilities so early in the morning? I seem to have made a new record." He walked closer to her and took her in his arms. Adrian stayed rigid, unwilling to hug him back, even though inside, she was just screaming for him to tell her he loved her.

He drew back, frowning a little, but she could see the amusement in his eyes.

"Come on Adrian, I just want to have a little fun. I'll come by your place after school?" He looked suggestively at her, and her face broke out into a grin.

"You do that." She smiled seductively at him, before walking of, swaying her hips with no hint of embarrassment.

Ricky smirked again. Oh, wasn't school just so _fun_.

"Ben, buddy, Grace Bowman is never going to break up with Jack so you might as well give it up!" Henry, or Hank as he liked to be called, chided Ben as he watched his friend slump down beside their lockers.

"Oh c'mon Ben, don't be such a downer. There are _plenty_ of other girls in this school!" Alice chimed in, glaring at Ben slightly. Alice was what you called one of those very open and "no-beating-around-the-bush" girls. She and Henry also happened to be Ben's best friends.

Ben looked up from his immaculately clean leather school shoes and to his cardigan-adorned arms. No wonder someone like Grace couldn't take a second look at him. He was a nerd, and a nerd who didn't even get spotless grades either. Ben was rich, unwittingly pampered…and he was also constantly unable to get any girl to sleep with him. He sighed desolately and looked around the hallway. His eyes caught on a bright splash of colour. Ben's eyes were glued to a pair of 'spotlight' red shorts. Slowly, his eyes travelled down the lightly tanned, long legs, before they started moving up again. Torso, white tank top, a slightly full chest, long slender neck and then his eyes stopped. The face that he saw was…astounding. He couldn't look away. Her face was enveloped in a cloud of long, copper coloured hair, and her skin was a creamy beige colour. 'Angel' Ben thought.

**MEANWHILE**

"Amy, what was that about earlier today?" Lauren and Madison watched her carefully, not wanting her to snap or break down.

"I…It was nothing." Amy looked away, silently refusing to tell them anymore. Madison and Lauren read her body language and backed off. There was an awkward silence that hung in the air for a second or two before, Madison, who could never hold her tongue for long, said, "Amy…? Who's…who's the father?"

The words tasted bitter in Madison's mouth and she winced.

Amy too flinched. "You just met him…" her voice was tight and gripped at her throat as she said this.

Madison and Lauren's eyes blinked wide and they stared at her. Madison was the first to recover.

"You _slept_ with _Ricky Underwood_?" she hissed, looking around fearfully.

"I…yeah…" Amy started to tear up, sobs gently breaking out into her voice and movement.

"Oh Amy," Lauren's face crumpled into a worry-filled expression as she hugged Amy tightly in her arms. Madison too, feeling very sorry for her best friend, joined in.

Ben's eyes were as wide as saucers. He just couldn't look away. Alice and Henry noticed the awkward pause that had fallen over him and looked in the direction of his gaze.

"Oh no. No, no no Ben! Do not mess with Amy Juergens," Alice's tone was firm, cautioning Ben with alarm. Ben snapped out of his wonder and frowned at her.

"Why?" he cocked his head to one side, rather annoyed that Alice wasn't supporting his choice.

Alice leaned in, peering around her with caution. She beckoned to Ben and Henry to get closer. With a hushed voice she said, "I heard that Ricky Underwood is messing with her."

Ben leaned back, with a slightly horrified look on his face. Ricky Underwood. The biggest playboy in the country was messing with Amy. His Amy. In his mind, Amy was already his, and his melodramatic mindset romanticised the simple function of dating into a full-fledged war between him and Ricky. Ben steeled himself. Amy was too pure, too beautiful, and too innocent to be poisoned and led on by Ricky. He was going to fight for this girl, and fight till the end he would.

He stood up resolutely. Quickly, he glanced back to the scene of the hugging girls and turned to Alice and Henry. Alice, seeing the look in Ben's eye, stepped back with horror.

"Ben! No! You will get tangled up with Ricky Underwood for a girl you don't even know!" Alice was furious.

Henry too, got a worried look in his eye.

"Ben, bro, don't do it. He's just going to beat you to it and then we'll have to pick up the pieces to your broken heart." Henry, ever the optimist.

Ben glared at them with resolute determination.

"I _will_ fight Ricky Underwood for her. I _will_ go out with her. And, maybe some day, I _will_ ask her to marry me."

Alice and Henry looked at each other, completely and utterly horrified.

Ricky and Adrian's lips battled for dominance as they kissed furiously. Eyes closed, tongues everywhere and Adrian's lip-gloss all over his mouth, this had been what Ricky missed over the summer. Arguing distracted him and he opened his eyes a fraction, to see three people arguing at their lockers. A tall gangly boy with no fashion sense, a flat-chested Asian girl and a funny looking Asian boy. He resumed what he had been doing before.

However, their arguing got louder and Ricky's radar-like ears caught their words.

"Ben! You cannot fight Ricky for Amy Juergens! Get another girl! One that's not involved with Ricky!" the Asian girl was shouting at the kid whose name was Ben.

Ben looked angry and he retorted furiously, "I will fight for her! You can't stop me!"

Wait what? This kid…Ben, was going to fight him for…Amy Juergens? What on Earth? He didn't want to admit it, but a small surge of annoyance burst deep in the pit of his stomach. He broke away from Adrian, frowning at where the trio had stood.

Adrian stepped back and frowned at him, then followed his gaze. Her brows crinkled in confusion at seeing what he was looking at. Gently, she touched his arm.

"Ricky?" she looked concerned.

Ricky flinched at her touch and drew his arm away. He shook himself. What had gotten into him? Putting on a good front, he smiled and turned back to Adrian.

"Sorry. I just…I just hear people arguing y'know? And you know how arguing gets to me," Adrian was perfectly willing and ready to receive Ricky's pathetic excuse.

They resumed what they had been doing, and both got entwined once again, with more physical rather than emotion fervour, at least on Ricky's part.

Madison drew back from their little huddle and looked Amy in the eye.

"Amy, if there's ever anything I can do for you…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Lauren chimed in and said, "Me too Amy, me too."

Amy smiled at them sadly.

"Thanks guys…"

An awkward silence blanketed the group, until Madison coughed. Amy looked at her, prompting her to go on.

"Amy…? When are you going to tell your mom?"

**_I wish I had like...I dont know some sort of instrument that would make it so much more epic. Oh well:)_**

**_Amy meets Ricky for the first time after band camp! And Adrian and Ben have gotten stuck into this..jumble. I can feel the fights and discomfort lurking. ANYWAYS. Hope you enjoyed today's chapter and I will probably be seeing you in three days:)_**

**_Have an awesome day and...yeah:) See you all soon!_**

**_xx Sophie_**


	4. The Plot Thickens

Ben took a deep breath. You can do this, he thought. You can ask her to the dance. Come on. He breathed again, shoulders heaving. Then, he started making his way shakily, over to Amy Juergens.

Suddenly, he stopped short in his tracks. She was at her locker, with tears running down her face. Subconsciously, his head tilted and he watched her with a worried expression. Had someone broken her heart? Would this ruin his chances with her? Ben's mind, so accustomed to thinking about himself first, did not consider _her_ welfare, at least, not directly.

Gingerly, his heart jittering, he walked over to her. He touched her arm softly, and smiled nervously as she whipped around, surprised and fearful.

"W-who are you?" she asked, quickly wiping away her tears and sniffling a little.

Ben stuck out his hand kindly and said, "Hello. My name is Ben Boykewich. I was just wondering if you were all right."

Amy looked uncertainly at him, unsure of whether or not his awkward manner was a joke or if he really was that strange. She shook his hand.

"Hi…I'm Amy. And yes, I'm all right…thank you." A small smile touched her lips. Ben seemed innocent and nice enough and his manner, though clumsy, appeared to be sincere and thoughtful.

Ben smiled with his usual awkwardness. Then he took a deep breath, slowly inhaling through his nostrils, and exhaling through his mouth. Amy cocked her head at this, curious as to what he was doing and why he was doing it.

"I…I know we don't know each other very well…or at all… but I was wondering if you might want to go with me to the Back To School Dance? I-If you want to of course." He said the last part hastily, unsure of her answer.

Amy's eyes brows crinkled uncomfortably. She had become a little paranoid around boys, and though Ben seemed shy and nice, well…Ricky had seemed like that too.

"I…well…I-Let me think about it…" Amy was blushing a little, and she looked away.

Ben's heart plummeted. That was just as good as a no. He shook his head and gestured with his hand, "Yeah…No that's all right. I'll see you around then Amy." He smiled sadly one last time before turning and leaving, his stride gangly and uncoordinated.

Amy watched him leave. She regretted not being able to say yes immediately but she knew that she had to consider the consequences…something she should've done last time. Never again…she thought.

Amy jumped when a husky voice whispered into her ear, "Hey there." She swung around, hair whipping the person in the face. Her eyes met a terribly heart-breaking beautiful sight that caused shivers to crawl up her arms. Amy's heart thumped uncomfortably. Ricky.

"W-what do you want?" her voice quivered but under the childish question, there was a hard, bitter tone edging it.

Ricky threw up his hands in mock defeat. "Whoa, hey there, don't get all violet tigress on me," he paused, eyeing her up and down, "even if it is kind of hot." He winked at her, smirking, and though Amy shivered a little in disgust, her heart beat quicker.

"Anyways. I was just wondering whom you were talking to just now. Was that the Boykewich kid? The one who's Dad makes the big dough?" Ricky's crude way of speaking only gave Amy more confusing flutters and jitters in her stomach.

"Yeah…so what if it was?" Amy's eyes narrowed a little, firmly pushing down the deep feeling of attraction she felt for Ricky so that only anger and hatred for what he had done flowed through her veins, fueling her disgust.

Ricky laughed and said teasingly, "Nothing, nothing! I just heard he was gonna ask you to the dance y'know? Just wanted to warn you." He shrugged, still grinning, like it was nothing on his part.

"Well what if I wanted him to ask me? What if I want to go to the dance with him? Then what?" Amy exclaimed angrily.

Ricky face froze for a split second and looked at her uncertainly, unsure if she was joking. When he realized she wasn't, his gaze hardened, all amusement gone.

"Seriously Amy? Ben Boykewich? What do you see in him? I mean, sure he's got the cash but really? C'mon, you can do better than that…you've _done_ better than that." He gestured towards himself suggestively, as if he was 'better than that'.

Amy looked away, disgusted. "You have no right to tell me who to like and who not to like Ricky Underwood." Not after what you've done…Amy thought painfully. She said his last name with spite, angry that he had brought up her attraction for him.

Ricky looked at her, irritated and slightly reproachful. He wasn't even sure why he was getting so worked up over this. Sure, it was a little demeaning that she had gone from _him_to…that, but it was strange as to how much he cared that she was no longer his. In fact…was she ever his? He pushed the question away.

"Well what about what happened at band camp? Or have you just forgotten that as well?" he demanded, still annoyed.

Amy froze, her eyes suddenly pooling. What did he go and bring up band camp for? Amy felt her heart crumbling all over again, the little shards scraping at her flesh and bone. She turned and left. Ricky stood in the hallway, alone, confused and very exasperated.

Amy ran to the giant doors of the school where Ben was standing with his friends, talking.

She waved wildly, and called his name.

"Ben! Ben!" He looked up, looking mildly surprised. His eyes widened at seeing his Atlanta pelting down the hallway to meet him.

Alice and Henry watched surprised, and they stepped back to clear Amy's path to Ben. She stopped short in front of him, swaying slightly on the balls of her feet.

"Yes…I'll go to the dance with you," she breathed, looking into his eyes almost pleadingly.

Amy stood out on her front porch, nervously adjusting her dress. It was a casual summer dress, sweet and unassuming. She waited for Ben to come pick her up…or more correctly, for him and his driver to come pick her up. Amy looked around her, making sure that her general appearance was suitable, rifling through her purse to check that her mobile and purse were both there.

Suddenly, a piercing light stabbed at the Amy's peripheral vision. She looked up, squinting, and her jaw fell slightly open. What looked like a mini limo was pulling up to her front lawn. One of the windows rolled down and Ben's anxious face poked out of the gap. His face cleared when he saw Amy standing there. Then he frowned, uncertainly looking at Amy's expression.

Amy shook herself, recovering. She ran unsteadily up to the side of the limo where Ben had opened the door for her.

"Why are you in a _limo_?" her expression was aghast, scared that he had spent a ton of money to procure their transportation. Ben looked confused.

"Why shouldn't I be in a limo? It is _our_ car after all…" he looked at Amy, concerned. "Are you feeling all right Amy?"

She stared at him.

"You own a _limo_?" she cried. Amy knew Ben was rich but…a LIMO?

Ben smiled ruefully at her. He shuffled over to the other end of the seat and said, invitingly, "Come on in. We have a mini bar if you're thirsty."

He laughed at her facial expression, and his laugh was so funny and awkward that Amy couldn't help but laugh too. She climbed in and shut the door behind her. With that, Ben's driver slid the limo smoothly out of the Juergens' driveway.

Amy subconsciously tugged at her dress. She felt an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu standing in the school gym. Gripping tightly onto Ben's arm she looked up at his face. Ben turned round to smile at her full on.

"Don't be nervous Amy. I'm here for you," he reassured her. She felt a little better when he said that. Ben was reliable, and though he didn't stir up any of the dark passions in her heart that Ricky did, Amy felt herself slowly but surely falling for him. Ben was way ahead of her. He had fallen in love with Amy already.

A slow song was playing and Amy and Ben made their way though the throng of the crowd. In a small, but select space, Amy finally felt brave enough to put her arms around Ben's neck. Ben's clammy fingers held on to her waist and she could feel their coldness through the light fabric of her dress. She smiled at him. He smiled back, and Amy could see his nervousness. That knowledge alone made her heart go out to him even more.

Sighing, she leaned her head against his shoulder, just like she had done with Ricky 5 weeks ago. This time, however, she felt…safe. A different kind of safe to the way she felt with Ricky. When she was with Ricky, safe was still fragile. With Ben, safe was…safe. When the dance ended they drew back, missing the warmth of each other's body. Ben swallowed, his throat dry.

"I'll go get us some punch shall I?" Amy smiled again, and beckoned for him to 'go ahead'.

The line for the punch bowl was ridiculously long and there were students everywhere. Ben stood on his tiptoes to see where exactly the refreshment table was. Ah, he could just make out the bright fabric of the table and the sickly pink colour of the punch. He squeezed and pushed his way through the tidal wave of students, panting for air in the tightly packed space.

Amy watched him go, smiling gently to herself. He was a sweet guy. Suddenly she heard a husky, humourless chuckle. She spun around, her heart plummeting.

"Well isn't he just so sweet?" Ricky repeated her thoughts aloud, but coming from his mouth, they sounded mocking and sardonic. He looked her straight in the eye and cocked his head to the side.

"Hey Amy." He grinned, that beautiful, yet cold and calculated smile. Amy stepped back involuntarily. A strand of hair swung in front of her eyes. Ricky reached out and brushed it back. That coming from any other person would've been kind, loving even. But Amy wasn't foolish enough to believe that Ricky felt that way about her. His movement was possessive, admonishing her for trying to escape his advance.

"Don't touch me," she hissed, voice trembling and eyes narrowed. Ricky smirked easily.

"Hey, is that any way to treat a summer love?" He feigned hurt, but Amy could see the detached amusement in his eyes.

"You never loved me." Amy was wise enough not to pretend that she never loved him. She knew that he knew, and the knowledge chilled her to the bone. Even when that very same undiminished passion still crackled in her heart.

Ricky laughed uncomfortably. Love. Why did girls always have to go back to that? Even as he thought this, a little twinge of guilt pricked at what was left of his compassion. He had wronged Amy. No more than he had wronged any other girl, but Amy…well she hadn't known what she was getting in to. He admitted as much to her.

"I'm…" he coughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I guess I hurt you. No more than I hurt anyone else though," he said the last part a trifle defensively. No need to make her think he was just a softy. That wouldn't do.

Anger blazed in Amy's eyes.

"No more than you hurt anyone else? I'M PREGNANT FOR GOD'S SAKE!" she screamed. Then her eyes widened. She slapped her hand over her mouth, willing for time to turn back, so that she could stop herself from saying it. Amy glanced around with fear. Thankfully, the music and rumble of conversation and singing was too loud, so that only Ricky heard what she had said. Ricky. She turned back around to stare at him in anguish.

Ricky's face was blank. Then emotion flooded onto his perfect features. Pregnant? What had he done?

Amy's eyes were brimming with tears. She reached out to touch his arm and he flinched. He looked up at her, in pain.

"I-I'm so sorry. Forget I ever said that. Please," she begged him. Heartbroken tears broke out from her eyes and she turned to leave.

Ricky, recovering to his senses, grabbed her arm.

"Amy, no! We have to talk," he pleaded with her.

She gave one last painful sob and wrenched her arm from his grasp. Amy ran outside, crying into the night air.

Ricky walked back to Adrian, dazed. A small furrow was etched between his brows. Adrian looked at him uncertainly as he walked over to her. She reached out to touch him and drew back.

"Ricky, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned. Ricky slid down the side of the wall, his head in his hands. Adrian crouched down as best as she could, without ripping her skirt.

"She's pregnant. I got a girl pregnant." His bewildered tone was interlaced with anguish.

"What?" Adrian shook his arm, hard. "Tell me more! Who is she? When did you guys…? Ricky!"

However, Ricky was beyond comprehension of her words.

"I don't know when she's going to tell him though! Or her mom either!" Madison exclaimed worriedly to Lauren.

"Well Amy's got to tell Ben eventually. She's going to start showing soon and it's kind of hard to hide a _pregnancy_." Lauren hissed back.

Suddenly, something cold and wet splashed at their feet. They both jumped back, squealing. Two plastic cups of florid pink punch had been dropped on the floor. They were just about to look up and berate the offender when they stopped, jaws hanging slightly open.

There stood Ben, staring at them incredulously and horrified.

"What?"

Ben stepped out of the crowded gym and wandered around in the cool night air, hoping that it would help clear his mind. However, it did not seem to do him any good, as his brain remained clogged and flooded with numerous thoughts and emotions.

His brow was furrowed as he paced around, and, unwittingly, he stumbled into a girl crying.

Amy.

His eyes widened as he hurried to her side.

"Amy! Oh God, a-are you all right?" of course, he knew very well that she wasn't. Too well in fact.

Amy gulped and hurriedly wiped away her tears.

"No, I mean yes, yes of course! I-I just came outside to get some fresh air. It was really stuffy inside," Amy's excuse was almost as pathetic as she looked right then.

Ben engulfed Amy in his long arms and rested his chin on her hair. She hugged him back, sobbing quietly into his woolly v-neck. Gently, he brought her to sit down on one of the benches.

"Amy," he murmured after a pause, "…I know."

She looked up at him slightly confused, and then realized with horror that he was talking about her pregnancy.

"Who told you?" she asked, her eyes watering up again with a fresh batch of tears.

"I heard Lauren and Madison whispering about it." He paused. "You haven't told your mom yet have you?" Ben said it, not like a question, but like a confirmation.

Amy nodded sadly against him.

"You should tell her. She'll help you. She loves you, you know that." Ben's stout logic hit Amy like a ton of bricks. He was right. She might as well stop putting it off and making excuses.

She smiled up at him, feeling much more reassured, knowing that Ben wasn't judging her. He smiled back and simply held her for another minute or so, while she dried her tears and sniffled, desperately hoping that everything _would_ be okay. Suddenly, he coughed. Amy looked up at him, surprised at his interruption of their comforting silence.

"Amy…uh…I don't know how to ask this without sounding like a jerk…but…who's the…y'know…" Amy looked at him uncertainly, unsure of where this was going and what he was asking. He coughed again.

"Who's the uh…the father…?" Ben winced as he saw Amy's face fall. He said quickly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's okay."

But Amy could hear the burning curiosity in his tone and she thought that he had the right to know. She took a deep breath.

"It's Ricky." At Ben's exclamation of surprise, she felt obliged to continue. "We went to band camp together. I thought…he…he made me think he loved me…" Amy trailed off quietly, unable to help the tears pooling up once more in her eyes. They fell quickly and splashed onto his immaculate cotton trousers.

Ben said nothing and held in his indignation. He rested Amy's head on his chest and hugged her tighter, afraid that any more contact with harsh reality would break her once and for all.

Ironically, only moments later, the back door of the gym was flung open to reveal a wild-eyed Ricky standing there. He looked around desperately, and saw Amy and Ben huddled quietly on one of the benches.

He ran over and skidded to a halt in front of Amy, suddenly looking uncertain.

Ben looked up, stunned, at Ricky. Then his eyes darkened and a look of fury spread across his face.

"Get away from her," he said, angrily and pompously.

Amy had turned her head away, tears already rolling down her cheeks at an alarming rate.

"Amy…" Ricky pleaded with her. Hesitatingly, he knelt down in front of her. At this, Ben let out a yelp of disbelief. The jerk looked like he was proposing to her! Feebly, he tried to push him away. However, due to the lack of upper arm…in fact, due to the lack of _body_ strength, Ricky didn't move a budge. He didn't even seem to have felt the push, his concentration was so intent on Amy.

"Amy…please, we have to talk." Ricky was just about to reach out to touch her hand when suddenly, a screeching call came from behind him.

"Ricky! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Adrian stormed up to them, her face livid. When she saw that he was kneeling in front of another girl, her eyes darkened and narrowed dangerously.

"You little slut, what do you think you're doing?" Adrian demanded, her voice tearing at Amy's dignity.

Amy looked up, fury taking the place of sadness and desperation. She was just about to lash out an angry retort when Ricky stood up and all but shook Adrian.

"Don't talk like that to her. You'd better learn to hold your tongue Adrian." His tone echoed finality and he eyed Adrian coldly to see whether she had gotten the message.

Adrian bit back a hiss. Why wasn't she good enough for him? All she wanted was for him to _love_ her.

"Fine." She turned on her 5-inch heels and left.

Ricky turned back to Amy and all traces of hostility dissolved from his eyes when he saw the tear tracks on her face that marked her pain. Normally, he found weeping females pathetic. But this time he had really screwed up and she had every right to cry and hate him.

"I-I'll call you…" he promised her, his eyes begging her to answer when he did. He walked off towards the car park.

Amy watched him leave, an odd tugging at her heart for him. She fought it back resolutely. He was just playing with her. He wouldn't call. Subconsciously, she reached for Ben's hand. His warm grip squeezed her clammy one as, once again, he wrapped one skinny arm around her bare shoulders.

Amy slipped into the house, quietly closing the back door behind her. Gingerly, she turned on the light to the kitchen. She sighed with relief to see that her mother hadn't stayed up for her. It was well past 11:00, her curfew.

"Hey, you're home," Anne came into the kitchen in her robe. She was smiling, not at all peeved that Amy had stayed out late. She remembered what it was like to be a teenager.

Amy jumped at her mom's voice.

"H-hey mom!" she said, her voice overly cheery. Anne narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at her weirdly.

"Amy? Are you all right?" she asked, concerned.

Those words brought her back to earlier that evening, when Ben found her sobbing near a bushel. Unwittingly, tears welled up and threatened to spill out. Oh God, she wasn't crying _again_ was she? Amy wiped them away quickly, lest her mother see.

Anne did see.

"Oh Amy, what's wrong? Come here," and Anne, with all her maternal comfort embraced Amy, while she cried into her mother's shoulder.

Anne gently led Amy down to sit at the kitchen table, and took the seat opposite her.

She put her hand under Amy's chin and pushed it up softly to make Amy look at her.

"What's wrong darling?"

Amy hesitated, wanting to just spit out the truth but finding herself unable to.

Anne looked at her carefully. "You know you can tell me anything right? Come on, I won't get mad." Anne smiled comfortingly. However, the last word seemed to produce an opposite effect on Amy. She burst into a fresh bout of tears.

"Oh but you will, you will get mad! M-mom, I'm so sorry…" Amy trailed off, the tracks of tears lining her face.

Anne chuckled at Amy. The poor girl had never done anything rebellious in her life. She had probably gone to the party and someone had kissed her on the cheek and she didn't know how to tell her. Anne stroked Amy's cheek, wiping away the wetness.

"Oh I'm sure it's not as half bad as you think it is darling," Anne said, smiling.

Amy took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell.

"Mom…I'm…I'm pregnant."

Anne's face froze in shock for a split second before it shattered. She tried to hide her devastation by smiling nervously, tittering to try and relieve the silence.

"R-right…Ha, got me there Amy! Jokes on me, right?" she laughed again, anxiously tugging at her skirt.

Tears spilled over from the rims of Amy's eyes, and they dribbled down swiftly, spattering onto her lap. She shook her head despairingly, wishing she could say that yes, it was a joke.

"I…I'm so sorry Mom!" Amy burst into a fresh flood of tears at Anne's quivering countenance. Anne had tears in her eyes too and she pulled Amy onto her lap, cuddling and soothing her.

"Shh, darling, don't cry. Shh…" and Anne mumbled on like this, whispering soft words of comfort into her daughter's ear, while Amy cried endlessly onto her mothers shoulder.

After a while, Amy sat up again, looking down into her mother's eyes.

"Mom…what do I do?"

Anne pursed her lips and looked at her daughter carefully. Gently, she sat Amy back down on the chair opposite her and took her hands, soothingly squeezing them.

"Amy…before we discuss that, I need to know how this happened. How did you get…" Anne floundered off, unwilling to even say the word out loud.

Amy took a deep breath, her eyes still dangerously watery. In this state of mind, she retold the sad tale of her experience at band camp.

Gently, Anne smoothed down the quilt under Amy's chin, tucking her in with an air of maternal worry about her. Amy had cried so much after explaining what had happened at band camp that she had become ridiculously worn out.

She leaned down and kissed her daughter on the forehead, before quietly letting herself out of the room, closing the door gingerly behind her.

Amy dozed dreamlessly, flitting in and out of consciousness. She could hear…pacing outside her room, someone muttering. Shaking herself awake, she got up groggily and sat down next to the little crack of light that shone from her door. She pressed her ear to it, listening intently. Her mother. Amy sank back on her heels, and sat there, listening to her mother worry, guiltily biting her lower lip. At around 1:00, she finally heard her mother leave the hallway and tip toe quietly into her and George's bedroom.

Amy stopped chewing on her lip when she realized it was swollen and throbbing. Suddenly, she heard a faint trilling sound emitting from inside her purse. Her phone. Amy scrambled quickly to her bag, and winced as the sound became louder when she undid the clasp. She checked the illuminated screen and saw that it was an unfamiliar number. Hastily, before it trilled again, she pressed the green button to accept the call.

"Hello?" she whispered nervously.

"Amy?" She froze. Ricky's husky voice trickled into her ear, sending shivers up her spine.

When he didn't receive an answer, Ricky frowned.

"Hello?" he asked again. He heard a quick intake of breath.

"Y-yes…? What do you want?" Amy's voice trembled.

"Amy…I…I'm so sorry. I jus-"

Amy cut him off. "Save it. The damage's done," she said, suddenly bitter.

Ricky bit his lip, his eyes washed over with pain. "I…I know."

"Well done. Glad you finally caught on," Amy spat out. All her unaddressed pain was turning into anger.

Ricky let out a small sigh. Guilt burned at his heart and he said softly "I promise…I'll help out Amy. I'll do…anything. Anything and everything…" he trailed off.

"Help out? What makes you think I'm keeping the child?" Amy asked incredulously, her voice shrill from a sudden attack of worry. "I'm fifteen Ricky!" Her voice broke and caught in her throat. "I can't have a baby at fifteen!"

Ricky's heart froze when she said she didn't intend on keeping the baby. "What? You-We have to keep the baby!" Ricky was horrified. Admittedly, at first, the idea of abortion seemed to be a reasonable solution. But then, reminiscing about his past, he realized he couldn't get rid of the child. His child.

"I can't keep the baby! WE can't keep the baby!" Amy cried. She was gripping the handle of her purse with desperation, her knuckles white.

"Amy…you can't have an abortion!" Fear clawed at Ricky's gut and his hands were shaking. He didn't know why he was getting so worked up over the child. Abortion would probably have been a sensible choice. When it was all over, they could just move on and pretend it never happened. Yet still, that unfamiliar discomfort raged at him, telling him that he _had _to keep the baby.

"I'm not! But…" here, Amy's voice trembled again. "My mom and I thought that adoption was the way to go. That way it'll…it'll be happy."

Adoption. Ricky blanched. No. His child would not go through the pains of adoption, the pain of knowing that his parents did not love him. Not like he had gone through.

"No. I…I forbid you," Ricky said hoarsely, fear fueling his anger.

Amy's eyes widened at this.

"Forbid me? You can't forbid me _Ricky_!" she said his name with spite. "_You_ did this to me. You have no right to have any say in this!" Amy checked herself to remember to keep her voice down.

Ricky's voice turned pleading. "Amy, please. I promise, I'll help out. Just…please. Keep the child."

Amy was surprised when she heard pain in his voice. Of course, she knew the rumors that went around school, that Ricky had had an abused childhood. Perhaps he had went from household to household too…a little boy begging for someone to love him and take care of him.

She imagined a scene play out in her head.

_A pale, thin, drawn out boy, walking up the pathway to some unknown household. He had bruises all over him, cuts and scrapes scattered across his skin and he had a limp. The social worker, who was in front of him, rang the doorbell._

_The door opened and a cold-faced woman looked at him disdainfully. She was about to close the door when she noticed the social worker. Realization dawned on her blunt features._

"_You did not tell me he was…a cripple." The woman spat out the word distastefully. The social worker looked uncomfortably at her._

"_He…He's not. His father just…abused him." At the mention of his father, the boy winced._

_The woman's heavy brows drew together._

"_We have no use for an abused child. They bring bad luck." And with that, she closed the door in their faces._

_The social worker turned to the boy._

"_I'm sorry Ricky…"_

Ricky. Amy shook herself out of her reverie, realizing that Ricky was still waiting for an answer.

"I…I don't know," she paused, still staggered from the scene she had imagined.

Ricky heard her wavering tone and caught onto it like a lifeline.

"Amy, please. I promise…anything…please, Amy…"

Amy sighed. Her head was pounding and she was bone-wearingly tired.

"I…I'll think about it." Slowly, she got up from beside her purse and climbed into bed, curling up into a ball.

Ricky heard the rustle of sheets and frowned. "Amy, are you in bed?"

"Yes…" Amy said slowly, unsure as to why he asked.

Ricky's expression became worried. "Oh God…please don't tell me I woke you up."

Amy chuckled slightly. "Well…not really."

Ricky sighed. What more harm would he do this girl? "I'm so sorry Amy-" he began but Amy cut him off again.

"No it's okay." A silence lulled and Ricky could hear Amy's steady breathing. Then Amy said, "Ricky..?" He 'mm'ed for her to continue.

"Were you…Did you go from family to family for adoption when you were young?"

She heard Ricky's sharp intake of breath. Then he exhaled, slowly breathing through his mouth to calm the uncomfortably fast thudding of his heart.

"Yes…" he said slowly. "None of the families wanted me…they thought I would be violent and unlucky because of my earlier…treatment."

Amy winced, horrifying scenes playing out in her head once again.

"I'm…so sorry."

Ricky's voice was hard when he answered. "Don't be."

Another pause washed over the both of them.

"Is that why you don't want to keep the child, because you think I'll do what my father did to me?" Ricky's tone was low, dangerous even.

"No! No, I actually thought the opposite…I thought…maybe that's why you wanted to keep it…you know. Because you don't want it to go through the same thing," Amy hastily explained, smoothing down Ricky's ruffled feathers.

He let out a sigh of relief. Then, after a moment, he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"It's late…and I'm sorry for keeping you up. Thank you…for thinking about keeping the child…our child." He coughed again. "And thanks for not judging…" Ricky said quietly. He appreciated Amy's kind way of thinking, even after what he had done to her. He was thankful that she hadn't judged him, like so many others had.

Amy smiled sleepily. "It's okay…and…" she trailed off, suddenly nervous.

"And..?" Ricky asked.

"I…I'm sure you wouldn't hurt anyone like that…not like the way your father hurt you."

Except I already did…I hurt you…, Ricky thought. It was different…but yet the same. Then he smiled, remembering Amy's reconciling tone.

"Thank you…again. Goodnight Amy."

Amy smiled again. "Goodnight Ricky." She yawned quietly, eyelids drooping.

"Sleep well…" he quickly hit the 'End Call' button before she could reply. And before he said something he would've probably regretted…or something that would've made Adrian very, _very_ annoyed.

**_Hello hello everyone:) Hope you enjoyed, I'm so glad I got to put in a little more 'Ramy' in this chapter:) Been having a bit of a writer's block lately, probably due to the TON of homework._**

**_Once again, hope you liked it,_**

**_xx Sophie_**


	5. Breakfast At Amy's

Ricky felt a cold hand grip, like a vice, onto his arm, and he looked down, mildly surprised. A set of perfectly manicured nails was digging into his skin, but Ricky could barely feel them, for his body had been abused by much harsher means of torture. His expression became impassive as he turned around to face the owner of the manicured nails. Slowly, his eyes met, unflustered and lazy, the blazing glare of Adrian Lee.

"Can I help you?" he asked coolly, evidently showing no intention of wanting to help her, whether she needed it or not.

Adrian grit her teeth together. God, he was so frustrating! "Yes, yes you can." She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed, mouth set in a determined line.

He cocked his eyebrow at her.

Under his cool demeanor, Ricky's heart was still thumping from his phone call with Amy. Ricky looked around him, mock lazily. His gaze settled on the back door of the gym. The party had just finished, everyone home. Though obviously _someone_ had no intention of leaving before getting her answers.

"You got Amy freaking Juergens _pregnant_?" she hissed, her dark heavy eyebrows drawing together in the wake of her fury.

Ricky's gaze snapped back to Adrian. "Yes, I believe I did." His voice was serene, so unlike the unsteady galloping of his heart.

Adrian shot Ricky a sidelong glance. "Was that her on the phone just now?" Adrian should have been given a Grammy for the talent that she displayed when playing the 'jealous girlfriend'.

"Yes," nonchalantly.

There was a pause and then Adrian got impatient. "Well are you going to tell me what you were talking about or not?"

Ricky groaned inwardly. He really did not want to be disclosing his personal life to his 'bed-buddy' but he knew she wouldn't drop it, not even if he was deaf from all her yapping.

"We were discussing about the child. She wasn't sure she wanted to keep it, bu-" he was cut off.

"Thank God the girl isn't a fool! Well, fool enough to get pregnant but at least she's going to get rid of it." She turned to smile at Ricky, her teeth flashing brightly. "You're off the hook now!"

Ricky's gaze darkened. "Off the hook?" he said slowly, dangerously quiet.

Adrian, however, was too caught up in her ecstasy that she could have Ricky all to herself, and didn't hear his menacing tone.

"Yes! And now we can spend all our time, _together_. Just like it used to be."

"Don't flatter yourself Adrian. She said she would keep the child, and I promised to help her raise _our_ kid," he coldly put emphasis on the 'our' to show Adrian that she had no part in what was happening between him and Amy.

Adrian's happy expression froze, then shattered.

"What!" she screeched, the shock quickly thawed out, replaced by complete and utter fury. "I can't believe you're falling for that little slut's tricks! Get your priorities right Ricky! You're supposed to finish high school, go to university _and_ be with me! Not raising a child at sixteen! Both you and I know that you don't want it." She said 'it' like the child was some filthy STD, instead of a warm, helpless baby.

Ricky's eyes flashed with fire. "I think you've stepped out of line here Adrian. I want the child. I'd rather refuse the best universities in the country than leave my kid all alone, except for Amy." Ricky's voice was quiet, a dark, dangerous edge cutting across it. "And don't let me hear you call Amy a slut again. There's no need to be rude," he said, patronizing, and disdainful.

Adrian's eyes narrowed again. "I'll call her what-ever I want, thank you very much. Little slut," she enunciated every syllable slowly, almost shaking with rage.

Ricky's cold, dark eyes appraised her one last time before saying, "Then we have nothing left to say to each other." With that, he turned on his heel and left.

Ricky's face was the epitome of annoyance. 'Adrian was…she _is_ too much,' he thought angrily. 'She needs to learn to back off a little.'

Ricky stalked down the pathway, his hands deep in his pockets, and he shook his head as he strode away from school. As he passed a drugstore, Ricky saw, from the corner of his eye, a distinct bright party-pink glimmer. He looked up frowning.

A couple of majorettes were there buying drinks, their party outfits tight and exposing. One of them, Zoe, looked up and saw Ricky looking at them. She smiled mock-coyly, beckoning him across the road.

Ricky hesitated, his thoughts drifting for a split second. It was late, and his parents expected him home in an hour. But then he shrugged and smirked, flashing his trademark crooked smile. It had been a stressing night, and he needed to get that all of his back.

He walked across the road, taking his time. Girls waited for him, so he really didn't have any need to hurry. Ricky pushed the glass door open, and stepped into the slightly air-conditioned drugstore. The rest of the majorettes looked up from the shelves of food and drink, then smiled seductively as they saw who was approaching.

Ricky grinned back at them, his expression haughty.

"Hello, ladies," his smile grew wider, more predatory as the girls started to circle in on him.

"Where's Adrian Ricky?" Lila, a tall leggy blonde asked, really not caring at all where Adrian was.

"Let's just say that I'll be free to have a couple of 'fun nights' without her for a little while," Ricky looked at the clique of girls meaningfully.

They giggled, the sound fake and Barbie-esque.

"But I'm tired tonight ladies. Just gonna squeeze one of you lovely girls in tonight before I head home," Ricky smirked as the girl's faces immediately became competitive and petulant.

Zoe stepped out of the little circle quickly, thrusting her curvy body into Ricky's arms.

"It should be me," she announced. "I'm the one he saw first." She smiled alluringly and Ricky shook his head, grinning back. The other girls were just about to retaliate cattily when he stopped them with a look.

"Yeah, I think I'll just take Zoe tonight. Maybe I'll come back for more some other night. G'night ladies," he flashed one last charming smile at them, before walking towards the large disabled bathroom stall on the other side of the building, his arm around Zoe's waist.

He locked them both in, making sure it was secure before turning around to face Zoe. She had already started undressing, her back to him. Suddenly, his breath caught in his throat. The sight of the long, chestnut coloured hair with faint natural copper highlighting brought him back to the last day of band camp. Amy.

Ricky felt sick and he staggered slightly. "Zoe," he croaked out. He winced at the weakness of his voice. Coughing, he continued. "I…I just realized that it's my parents' anniversary tonight. I promised them I'd be home earlier. Sorry. Gonna have to leave you for another night," by the end of his lie, his voice had gotten back it's cocky edge, and he thanked God for it.

Zoe turned around, her face betraying her insecurity. "What? Am I not skinny enough for you?" she asked, trying to sound angry, but failing miserably.

Ricky smirked. "Nah, s'not that Zoe. I just really have to go. Maybe some other time all right?" She nodded, not really believing him.

When she had finished dressing, Ricky unlocked the door and made his way out. The other girls immediately turned to look at them.

"You're done already?" they were shocked…and attracted. They all smiled audaciously at him. "Maybe you can fit one more in tonight?"

Ricky chuckled darkly and said, "Sorry. Not tonight ladies. I'll see you all around." He quickly pushed open the door and slipped out into the cool night air.

Ricky stole around the wall of the building and stood there for a second before sinking down onto the hard pavement. He pulled his phone out, staring at the bright screen. 2:45. It was late. His parents _would_ be expecting him home. Slowly, his thoughts drifted back to Amy. He needed to tell his parents, before someone else told them. Ricky knew that, at the rate that gossip flew around the school, it wouldn't be long before it reached the ears of his mother, Margaret, a social worker. Margaret.

Margaret and Shakur would be waiting. Waiting but not worried. They knew of Ricky's 'nightly activities' and, though they did not approve, they did nothing but lightly reprimand him whenever he came home after a party all mussed up. Ricky smiled ruefully. They would be doing more than reprimanding him when he told them what he had done.

Ricky slowly pressed in the number to their home phone onto his mobile and placed the handset to his ear, listening to the dial tone.

"Ricky? Are you one your way home yet, young man?" Margaret's affectionate but slightly peeved tone said down the other line.

Ricky chuckled. "Yeah, I'm coming home Mom." He took a deep breath. Before he could say anything, he was interrupted.

"Ricky…I know that sound. That's you taking a deep breath. _That_ is your 'I-have-to-tell-Mom-and-Dad-something-even-if-they're-going-to-kill-me' sound. What have you done now Ricky?" Margaret asked, sounding disappointed, a tone that Ricky hated to hear.

"I…I got a girl pregnant Mom."

There was a deadly silence on the other end of the phone. Then,

"What! Richard Underwood, how could you? Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Margaret was horrified and furious. "You get home right now young man, before I send the cops out looking for you!" And with that, his adopted Mom hung up the phone.

Ricky sighed. Boy, was he in for a _long_ night.

Amy woke up to the faint trilling sound of her phone, muffled by the pile of clothes she had thrown carelessly over it. She groaned and quickly climbed out of bed, half running, half crawling, and dug through the pile of material, eventually emerging with the 'prize' in hand. Hurriedly, she pressed the green 'Answer Call' button and held the receiver to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Amy! Thank God you answered," Ben's worried voice drifted to her ears. "I've been texting you all day and you haven't replied to a single one of them! Why aren't you in school Amy?"

Amy huffed, slightly peeved at his interruption of her sleep because of so trivial a thing. "Ben, I _told_ you. I'm taking a week off so my family and I can decide what to do. Plus, there are a bunch of tests I need to take for precautions, so it's more convenient if I just skip school for a while." Ben, she had realized, had a slight neurotic streak to him and needed things to be patiently explained and often repeated in order for him to fully comprehend.

Ben 'oh'ed as realization dawned upon him.

"Well…I'll come visit you after the school then," Ben said, now grinning broadly at his 'spectacular' idea.

Amy giggled tiredly. Her boyfriend was such a dork. But he was ever so sweet and one couldn't stay mad at him for long. She had been so relieved when he asked her to be his girlfriend despite…it. Her thoughts roamed towards the unborn child. When she first found out that she was pregnant, she hated the thing inside her, because it was a part of Ricky. Now, an unexplainable blooming fondness had nestled in the pit of her heart, a maternal love starting to envelope the child.

"Amy? Hello?" Ben's frantic voice brought her out of her reverie.

She laughed again. "Yes, I'm here Ben. You can come over later if you want. I'm going to go make some breakfast for myself now, so talk to you later okay?" smiling.

"Okay then. Bye Amy. I love you." Amy suddenly choked on her saliva. Love? She coughed, as her breath caught in her throat, bringing tears to her eyes. He couldn't love her! They'd talked to each other less than a handful of times! Amy was frantically thinking of something to say before her coughing fit ended.

"Amy are you all right?" Ben asked, concerned. "Is it something I said? Amy, answer me!" Ben was already full blown panicking within the time frame of two seconds.

Amy managed to regain her composure and laughed weakly. "No, no, it's nothing."

"Well…if you say so…" Ben said, uncertainly. "Okay, you go get your breakfast and I'll see you later. Bye, I love you!"

Amy winced slightly at that. "Yeah, you too. Bye." And with that, she quickly pressed the 'End Call' button, sighing as she pocketed her phone.

Amy was cutting up strawberries to go with her cereal when she heard a light tap on the backdoor in the kitchen. She looked up surprised. Her mother was at work, and so was her father, and both had left notes saying that they would be back at two, in time for her check-up. Amy didn't expect them home yet, and Ashley was at school.

Shocked, she walked up to the door and slowly undid the bolts and locks. She opened the door, and let Ricky step into their pristine kitchen.

"Ricky…? What are you doing here?" she asked, her brows slightly furrowed together.

"Didn't you say that you had a check up today? You said I could come so…here I am," he gestured with his palms spread up.

"Yeah…but the check up is at TWO." Amy gesticulated, her eyes wide open when she said 'two'.

Ricky's eyes, too, widened at hearing 'two'. "Two? Seriously? I heard ten…" he trailed off frowning.

Amy regained her composure and laughed. "Never mind. You can just stay here until then," she started to walk back to the counter, where her strawberries were. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Ricky looked up distractedly, still dwelling on the fact that he had gotten the time wrong. "What? Oh, err, yeah, sure. I'll uh…have what you're having."

She pulled out another bowl from the cupboard and started pouring the cereal into it, and then wandered leisurely towards the fridge to get another box of strawberries.

"Sit, you don't have to eat standing up you know…" she said, as she stuck her head into the cool depths of her family fridge.

Ricky, with his hands deep in his pockets, sat down on one of the wooden chairs at the table. He dug his hands out and absent-mindedly started tapping a beat on the smooth surface while waiting for Amy to get his cereal.

Amy listened with a small smile as the rhythm got more and more intricate, little taps and larger smacks weaving in and out of each other to create a peppy rhythm.

She turned around, with the bowls in hand and Ricky stopped tapping and turned his head to smile ruefully at her. As she brought the cereal back to the table smiled, saying, "You're very talented you know."

Ricky shrugged. "Yeah…I enjoy what I do…" he trailed off then snapped his head back to look at her, grinning broadly. "You're beast at playing the French horn."

Amy snorted and spooned her cereal into her mouth. Ricky too, dug into his. She sneaked glances at him, slightly amused at how hungry he seemed to be.

"Have you not had breakfast?" she asked, laughing as he looked up, surprised at her interruption of his intense appreciation ceremony of 'good food'. He grinned ruefully at her again and said, "Nah, don't really eat breakfast. Usually Adrian doesn't wake up on time to make it for me before I slip ou-…" he trailed off, wincing at his faux pas.

Amy looked back down into her bowl, her face red.

"I…sorry. That was really…thoughtless…" Ricky tried to apologize, his tone very remorseful. Realizing that he hadn't said that to try and hurt her, Amy looked up and smiled wearily at him

"No, it's okay. It's…who you are…and I accept that." She smiled again, wider this time trying to show him that she really did.

Ricky was slightly surprised. He thought she would clam up, and the rest of the day would be really awkward. But instead, she had accepted him…and hadn't judged him for what he got up to.

"Thanks…Amy." He smiled back.

After a slight paused Amy jumped up and said, "Well, time to do the dishes! Best not to leave them all for Mom." She took Ricky's bowl and spoon and piled them precariously on top of hers and was about to turn to the sink when she felt a warm hand on her arm. Ricky pried the bowls out of her hands, chuckling.

"Here, you made the food, I'll do the dishes." At first, Amy showed signs of protesting but then took a deep breath and said, "Whatever you say then."

"See? We're liked a married couple with a kid coming along already." Amy froze at this, her eyes wide.

Ricky winced and mentally slapped himself on the forehead. What was wrong with him today? Had he developed some sort of terminal foot-in-mouth disease that forcefully stopped him from being able to communicate with other human beings?

"Sorry…didn't mean it to come out like that. I don't know what's wrong with me…Sorry," Ricky desperately tried to rectify his mistake when Amy's face broke out into an amused smile.

She laughed and said, "No, really, it's okay."

Ricky smiled apologetically at her before bringing the dishes to the sink. Amy sat back down, watching him wash the bowls and spoons.

"SO. What do you want to do today?" she asked when he had finished.

Ricky frowned. "Err…hadn't thought about that. Do you want to watch a movie?"

Amy nodded. "Sure, that could work."

They both wandered into the living room and Amy crouched down in front of the DVD cupboard and started rootling through the boxes. "What do you want to watch? Sci-fi, rom-com, mystery, horror or kids?" she called back to Ricky who had settled himself comfortably on the sofa after firm assurances from Amy that she could get the movies herself just moments before.

"Err…don't really mind. Preferably not rom-com though," he said, thinking that he knew what girls normally chose.

Amy snorted. "Was hoping you would rule off rom-com, thank God." She sat there deliberating for another moment before resolutely picking up a DVD and shutting the cupboard door. Ricky watched as she popped the disc into the player and switched on the TV.

"What are we watching?" he asked, as she settled herself into single sofa diagonally in front of him.

"Lion King. Second one." She replied, her eyes glued to the screen as the opening scene began to play.

Ricky raised his eyebrows but said nothing. They both watched the movie in comfortable silence, chuckling at any given moment went Pumba or Timon decided to crack a cheesy joke.

Suddenly, Amy heard the door click open. She sat up, surprised, checking the clock on the wall. 12 o'clock.

"Amy?" a voice called.

Amy's mouth dropped open slightly, in shock, as she saw Ben's head peek around the corner of the corridor. Ben saw her and smiled, then a deep furrow quickly etched itself between his brows when he saw Ricky sitting on the sofa, leaning comfortably on the sofa cushions.

"Ben, what are you doing here? And how did you get in?" Amy asked, recapturing his attention.

"I know you keep your spare key under the doormat and it's lunch, so I decided to come visit you…though it looks like _he's_ already beat me to it…" Ben ended bitterly, glaring at Ricky like it was all his fault.

"I have a check up later Ben, and he's coming because I promised him he could," when she saw Ben's gaze grow hotter, she quickly added, "M-my Mom thought it would be a good idea."

"Your Mom thought it would be a good idea to invite the…_impregnator_?" Ben asked, incredulously.

Ricky couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Ben's gaze quickly switched back to him, glaring furiously.

"I'm the dad Ben. And yes, her Mom thought it would be a good idea to invite the…impregnator." Ricky's tone was amused, with a slight edge of mocking.

"I can't believe you chose him over me! How long has he been here? Have you two been 're-experiencing' band camp? I thought we had a good thing going Amy! Or am I just a conquest?" Ben demanded, as he threw his arms around, gesturing wildly.

Amy's slightly amused expression darkened quickly, and now she glared angrily back at Ben.

"No! How could you even think that! What is wrong with you Ben? What's with all this jealousy? He's my FRIEND. He's also the FATHER so he has every right to come along!" Amy was fuming, and she looked so exactly like the personification of a 'cat with its hair on end' that Ricky couldn't suppress the small chuckle that slipped out again.

Ben scrunched his face up then took a deep breath. "Amy, darling, don't you see? He's just playing you, just like he played you at band camp. He doesn't love you! You're not even a friend to him! Don't fall into his tra-"

Amy cut him off coldly. "That's enough Ben. Ricky is my friend. Nothing more. He's willing to help out with our kid and I'm very grateful for that. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to just fall into his arms and sleep with him! He doesn't even look at me like that! We're just _friends_." Amy stressed the last word, her stare was icy and Ben pursed his lips in defeat.

"But Amy I jus-"

"I think you should leave Ben. I'll talk to you tomorrow, when you've decided to calm down and think about how insulting you've been today." Amy dismissed him witheringly, like a teacher sending a naughty student to the 'Naughty Corner'.

Ben's shoulders drooped in failure. "Very well then…I'll call you tonight. I love you Amy," he murmured and left.

When Amy heard the door click shut, she let out the breath she hadn't realised she was holding. She looked back at Ricky apologetically, and her eyes met his grinning face.

"I'm afraid that in the drama of your very interesting relationship with the Sausage Prince, I paused the movie. I also did it because I just so happen to be an amazing friend. Now, I am rather anxious to get back to Kiara and Kovu chasing the birds so if we could…" he trailed off suggestively, eyes flickering between the TV screen and Amy.

Amy laughed, and the mood immediately became light-hearted.

"Let the Lion-King-ing begin!" she said, laughing.

**_Hello, hello everybody!:) I got a longer chapter up for you today because I love you all and because I love Amy and Ricky! I'm glad to be able to write about Ricky's small changes._**

**_Please review! It would mean so so SO much if you did:)_**

**_xx Sophie_**


	6. Weekend Sleepovers and Crazy Girlfriends

_(2 months into Amy's pregnancy, 2 weeks after final scene in previous chapter)_

Ricky pushed open the faded orange doors to Grant High, a wave of apprehension washing over him. As he stepped into the tiled hallway, he saw and felt a million eyes on him. Nervously, he glanced around, his gaze meeting a thousand other penetrating ones. Ricky could see an array of emotions burning in the pupils of his peers, disbelief, anger, disgust, amusement and the oh so distinguishable 'dude-what-have-you-done'.

Slowly, he walked towards his locker, cautious, as if approaching an angry animal. He was just about to step up to the long metal door with the dial on it when he saw someone step up to him. It was a girl with dark ginger hair pulled back by a hair-band. She looked like the 'nerdy-genius-freak' type that Ricky tended to ignore and walk away from. He grimaced. It looks like he couldn't walk away this time.

"Yeah?" he asked, already feeling immensely guilty, even though she hadn't even opened her mouth.

"I just wanted to say that what you did to Amy was awful and that you should be ashamed of yourself," the girl said stoutly, her eyes bright with indignant anger.

Ricky exhaled slowly, his eyes downcast. "Yeah…I know."

The girl, who seemed satisfied (or was it disgusted?) with his answer, walked off.

Ricky suddenly felt a deep resentment bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Luke Ferret had gotten a girl pregnant last year and no one had given _him_ such a hard time. He looked up, angry eyes meeting the curious, probing ones of the rest of the student body. The evident looks of disapproval were like oil to flame, and Ricky couldn't control the furious torrent of words that spilled out of his mouth.

"What are you all looking at? What's your problem? So I got Amy Juergens pregnant! What're you all gonna do about it? Huh?" Ricky's expression was murderous, his angry voice carrying through the halls, echoing dangerously.

The students stirred uncomfortably. Direct confrontation was always awkward. Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, little groups of people with their heads together drifting away to gossip about Ricky's outburst.

Ricky turned back to his locker, breathing heavily. He hated losing his temper but it happened so often that every time after his 'explosion' he would feel immensely helpless and even more worked up, he felt so unable to control himself. Suddenly, he felt a cool grip grasp his arm. He looked down to see a well-manicured hand. A grim smile from the feeling of déjà vu tugged at Ricky's lips. He turned around, feelings carefully hidden by an impassive mask.

"Adrian," he addressed her dismissively.

Adrian mirrored his expression for a split second before it broke away, revealing a sorry and begging face.

"Ricky…" she began slowly, her eyes pleading. Ricky held up a hand to stop her. His smile returned, and though it wasn't forced, it wasn't easy either.

"It's okay. All forgotten. Friends?" he asked, amusement now dancing in his eyes.

Adrian, in turn, narrowed hers. "Friends?" she asked, incredulously. She sounded as if she was about to cry.

Ricky chuckled darkly. "I'm just kidding," he said before sweeping down to kiss her full on the mouth.

She returned it vigorously, if not desperately. Ricky smirked into her lips. Their nightly activities were back on. Finally.

* * *

><p>Ricky was at his locker, at the end of the school day, stowing away his textbooks. His feet were tapping a beat while he clicked with his tongue, and he didn't hear his name being called until the person was standing right next to him and shouting in his ear. He jumped back wincing, holding the side of his head.<p>

"What do you want? And what was that for? Geez…" Ricky shook his head, looking at the culprit with annoyance.

"Sorry," Ben winced; realizing how making Ricky angry might affect the impact of what he was about to say. "I called your name three times, but you didn't respond so I thought…" he trailed off.

"So you thought you would just come over to try to see if I was deaf?" Ricky cocked his eyebrow at him.

"I…no. I was jus-" Ben broke off, taking a deep breath. To argue over who was right and who was wrong was not the reason he had tracked down the father of his girlfriend's baby. "Anyway, as I was going to say," he took another deep breath, "I was wondering if we could talk…privately."

Ricky eyed the skinny boy in front of him. Then he sighed. Ben looked like on of those people that were annoyingly pursuant.

"All right, but make it quick. I have to get to band practice." He twirled his drumsticks between his fingers. There was an awkward pause as Ben just stood there sorting out his thoughts. "Well get on with it!" Ricky gestured impatiently.

Ben took a deep breath again. "I was just thinking…well…you see…we are, inevitably now, connected by Amy and the child. I…I'm in love with her," Ricky choked at this, "and you're the father of her child." He paused again.

"Yes…?"

"I just thought that…since we're bound together by all this, we might as well…be friends. You know. So there's no animosity when the kid's born."

Ricky scoffed. "No animosity? There will _always_ be animosity between the three of us Ben." He said coldly, "Who's the kid going to call 'Dad'? Who is he going to spend his first birthday with, you and Amy or me? Who's going to take him to his first day of high school? Who's going to give him the 'birds and the bees' talk?" Ricky snorted. "There will never be peace between our little...threesome…unless of course either one of us dies…or Amy chooses to cut one of us out of her and the kid's life."

Ben paled at this. "N-no, I mean, come on Ricky…it can't be _that_ drastic, surely! Parents get divorced all the time, and it's pretty much the same concept," he spluttered.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Ben ran his hand through his hair, ruffling the perfect shape. "I just…I just thought that we might as well be friends."

Ricky sighed with defeat and irritation on the outside, maintaining his aloof front. On the inside, however, he was turning the idea over in his head. Friends. He had never had a real friend. Except maybe Amy. Ben turned to leave, his head bowed, confident that he had been rejected.

"No…wait." Ben turned around quickly, his eyes shining with hope, like a puppy. "I…I guess we could…work things out. You know…for the kid."

Ben smiled widely. "That's…that's great!" Ben reached to clap Ricky on the shoulder, to which Ricky drew back slightly and frowned. Ben shrugged, smiling ruefully. "Well…I'll let you go then. Bye…Ricky," he smiled again, his teeth bright and flashing.

"Yeah, bye Ben."

* * *

><p>There was a knock on the back door. Amy went to open the door and smiled when she saw whom it was. She opened it, grinning broadly.<p>

"Hey," Amy beckoned him in.

"Hey," Ricky grinned. He had come to visit her nearly everyday after school, just to hang out and talk. His excuse to Margaret and Shakur had been that he needed to build a good relationship with the mother of his child but they were happy to let him go anyway.

"My parents are out of town to help out with my grandmother. She's moving house so she'll be nearer to the hospital just in case of any problems with her health and Ashley's at a sleepover so I've got the house all to myself." She laughed spiritedly. "I haven't felt so free since I found out I was…pregnant," Ricky winced, looking guilty. But then Amy laughed again. "Do you want juice?" she asked, heading to the fridge.

"Uh sure." Ricky sat himself down at the table, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket.

Suddenly the phone rang. Amy started, spilling the orange liquid, and she looked beseechingly to Ricky, as she tried to clean up the spilt juice. Ricky got up hastily and went to the phone.

"Hello?" Ricky heard a small gasp when he answered, and then he heard mumbling, a woman and a man.

"Is that you Ricky?" the gruff voice of George Juergens startled Ricky.

"Yep. I just stopped by to…" Ricky trailed off. To what?

"Yeah, okay. I was just calling to see if Amy was okay. We're not here for the weekend, and she had probably already told you why." There was a pregnant silence... How ironic.

"Anyway," George continued, "You can stay over if you want. I feel like after the talk we had last weekend you're gonna behave yourself around my little girl."

Ricky smiled wryly. Yes, the 'talk last weekend'. George had stormed into his adopted parents' house at eight in the morning, demanding to talk with Ricky. What followed was a very awkward conversation between the two of them, most of which was George threatening to get Ricky arrested if hurt Amy again. Ricky had assured him that it wouldn't happen and George had, thankfully, believed him.

"Err…thanks Mr. Juergens. I wasn't going to stay over, as you say, but-" George cut him off.

"I'd rather you did stay over if you don't mind." George chuckled ruefully. "There's no one at home and I'm worried about Amy. What if there was some sort of accident or incident? Madison and Lauren are under strict grounding rules, so they won't be much help, and her boyfriend Ben doesn't exactly live close by. If you could just stay over…" George trailed off suggestively. Ricky sighed and laughed. This had to be a first. Never had a father invited him to stay over at a daughter's house. Ever.

"All right then, if it puts you in your right mind Mr. Juergens." He grinned again and George laughed with him.

"Okay then, you kids behave yourselves. I don't want to see...yeah, you know. Have a good weekend!" George hung up the phone, snickering at his own 'hilarious' threat.

Ricky gently set the phone down, and turned to face Amy, who had a very 'wierded-out' expression lingering on her face.

"What was that?" she asked, her eyes nervously darting from the phone to Ricky's face.

"Oh, it was nothing. Your dad just asked me to 'stay over' and take care of you for the weekend," Ricky said, amused.

"He…he what?" Amy looked flabbergast. Her mind was reeling and she floundered for some explanation. Ricky snickered, and Amy's gaze darkened. It was a joke. Some cruel joke that Ricky and Adrian had probably cooked up to show her that she was just a nobody, just an easy girl who got pregnant at band camp.

"You are a _horrible_ person. I can't believe you would think up something like this! Or that you think I'm _stupid_ enough to believe you!" Amy's eyes were narrowed as she threw her fury at Ricky. His eyes widened suddenly, all traces of amusement gone. "You have no sensitivity whatsoever! I'm PREGNANT with YOUR CHILD for Christ's sake!"

Her eyes burned with a deep, injured fury and she started towards Ricky, her hand raised. Ricky jumped, and quickly grabbed her hand to prevent her from hitting him and clutched her shoulder, his arm braced, so that she would remain a reasonably safe distance away from him.

"Amy!" when she continued to struggle he shouted her name a little louder. "AMY!" she paused, her fight dying away at hearing him yell. "I wasn't joking. Your dad just asked me to watch out for you this weekend because he was worried you might have an accident, and with no one at home, it could be really dangerous. I wasn't trying to trick you Amy.." he looked sincere but there was still a nagging doubt in the back of Amy's mind.

She narrowed her eyes. "You expect me to believe that MY dad, the man that swears to tear you from limb to limb, wants YOU to take care of me?" She looked incredulous and insulted that he had thought so little of her intelligence.

"We…kind of had a little talk…well there was more him threatening to kill me rather than talking but…yeah. Let's just say we've come to an understanding," Ricky let go of Amy looking sheepish.

Her eyebrows shot up. "It's not like he can actually kill you. So what kind of leverage does my Dad have on you then? Hmm?" she asked disbelievingly. Her expression was annoyed but no longer angry.

"Well…he kind of threatened to tell Marg-Mom and Dad everything if I did hurt you…" Ricky had suddenly become very interested in a speck of dust on the tiled kitchen floor.

"…So?" Amy was still unconvinced.

He looked up, an expression of begging splayed across his handsome face. "I can't bear to disappoint them. They saved me from a life of depression, abuse, violence…I couldn't repay them like that." Ricky sounded so sincere that Amy winced.

"Sorry…I didn't realize. It's jus-…I just thought that you were playing some sort of joke on me, to show me how much of a nobody I am." Amy shuffled her feet nervously, playing with a loose thread on her cardigan.

Ricky looked up, surprised. "I wouldn't do that to you Amy. God knows I've hurt you enough…"

Amy's lips tugged into a small smile. A pause ensued while they both just smiled at each other, until Amy shook herself and said, "SO. Juice?"

Ricky laughed. "Yeah, all right."

Amy went back to the counter near the fridge and finished pouring out the liquid into two cups. She handed him one and took a small sip from hers. "Well…since you're gonna be here all weekend, what do you want to do?"

Ricky frowned. "I…don't know. Do you have any chores or…anything you need to get done?" He downed the whole cup in one, and went to the sink to put it down.  
>Amy stood for a second, drinking as she thought; mentally flicking through all the things she had to do that weekend (which, frankly, wasn't much), and finally landed on spring-cleaning.<p>

"I have to clean my room? Got to clean out the cupboards and everything. But if that's too boring it's okay…"

Ricky was quick to hear the hopeful tone in her voice. "No, course not. C'mon, let's go clean out your room."

Amy smiled warmly and set her empty cup down next to Ricky's and led the way up. She pushed open the white door with her childhood handicraft butterfly on it, slipping inside, while Ricky looked closely at her door decoration, an amused smile playing at his lips.

"Tadaa! Welcome to where all the magic happens," she said, grinning, capturing his attention again. Ricky scoffed, which only made her giggle, looking around curiously as he walked in. Amy's room was nothing like Adrian's. Adrian had all sorts of magazines, makeup and nail polish bottles scattered around the room. Her clothes were the only thing that she kept pristinely neat and hung in her wardrobe.

Admittedly, Amy's room was just as messy, but instead of girly knick-knacks everywhere, she had stacks of books piled precariously on her desk, and sheet after sheet of stapled music scores carpeting her floor like autumn leaves.

"Sorry for the mess. I've kind of not bothered to clean for the past month or so…what with the…you know, and everything," Amy looked apologetic at seeing his wondering gaze.

"No, no, its okay! It's just…your room is very different from Adri-…" he floundered off, realizing that he had just crossed the invisible line…again. Amy smiled tightly. "I'm…sure."

Ricky bit his lip and mouthed 'sorry'. Amy rolled her eyes, smiling properly this time.

"It's cool. We'd better get a move on, or we'll never be done." She bent down and started picking up the music scores. Ricky chuckled, and helped her fish them up.

By the time all the scores had been picked up, Amy was carrying a whole armful, the stack of paper as tall as her hand to her forearm.  
>Ricky whistled. "That is a LOT of music."<p>

Amy snorted, looking slightly guilty. "Music is…my fetish," she said, shrugging.

"Yeah…evidently." At this, Amy broke out into giggles. "It's mine too, you know." Ricky looked a little embarrassed. Most people thought he did band just to pick up girls, but they were only half right (well, he did spend many hours in storage cupboards and practice rooms with them). But, ultimately the drums had been a way for Ricky to take out his anger, and let go of all the baggage that he carried with him from his childhood, if not just for a while. He looked up uncomfortably and saw Amy's sympathetic smile as she read between the lines of his confession.

Amy waddled over to a small chest of drawers, and, using her foot to draw out the very last one, dumped the paper with a big 'whump' into the wooden contraption. She straightened and said, "All right. Now…cupboards." Amy, who had turned to the big, white doors to her dresser did not see Ricky's grimace. He shifted uncomfortably when she had mentioned 'cupboards'. He felt wrong somehow looking through Amy's clothes…as if he was dipping into sinful waters.

Amy opened the doors and stepped into the small room that was her dresser. To one side, she had all her coats and scarves hanging, with her shoes propped neatly in rows below them. Beside that, there was a humongous, mahogany chest of drawers that Ricky guessed, had all her clothes in them.

To Ricky's surprise, however, she turned to somewhere further to the left of her dresser, and he saw many colourful boxes piled up in ridiculously high stacks…board games.

Amy smiled, embarrassed. "We never got round to sorting them out. Most of them are going to be thrown away but Ashley and I thought that maybe it would be nice to keep a couple…just for old time's sake." Ricky laughed aloud at her expression. This girl…she really was something. Keeping old board games for all the good memories…he'd never heard of anything like it.

"All right then," he said, still chuckling. "Shall we play a round of each of them just to run them through the 'passing test'?" he winked, half in jest, half genuinely wanting to play. At this, Amy laughed too. "Yes! That sounds like a lot of fun. Plus, we have a lot of time to kill anyway." She knelt down and grabbed a stack of boxes and Ricky followed in suit.

* * *

><p>"Cheater! Cheater! I saw you kick the dice with your foot!" Amy cried, laughing. Ricky pretended to look outraged. "I have no idea what you're talking about! That was clearly an accident. And it's not my fault neither of us saw what the number was before I ACCIDENTALLY nudged it," Ricky grinned, his eyes dancing as he defended himself.<p>

"Liar." Amy scrunched up her nose, fighting the giggle that threatened to break out.

"Now, now, I know you're not mad. I see you wanting to laugh," Ricky smirked, taking in Amy's 'furious' expression. When she obstinately shook her head, he laughed outright. "Come on, I know you want to smile. Come on Amy," he suddenly lunged forward, knocking over the small colourful pieces and tickling Amy around the neck and stomach.

A surprised laugh burst out of her mouth, and she squirmed around trying to avoid Ricky's long fingers that poked and prodded her flesh.

"Okay, okay! Truce! No, stop! Please!" Amy gasped out, from amidst her uncontrollable giggles. Ricky drew back, laughing, until his mind registered what was happening which brought his mirth to an abrupt stop. His face suddenly froze and both he and Amy realized the same thing simultaneously. Ricky was on top of her in a very compromising position, and he had propped himself up with his arms on either side of her waist. Her legs were sprawled out underneath him and Amy blushed furiously, drawing them in, whilst Ricky hurriedly rolled off of her. He coughed; looking awkwardly away as he inwardly cursed himself. Ricky opened his mouth and turned around; ready to apologize, when he felt a warm hand on his arm. He shifted his eyes to see Amy's kindly brown eyes staring straight at him.

"Don't think too much about it Ricky. What happened at band camp…happened at band camp. Maybe it was a mistake but…I think it'll be good for us in the long run. We don't have to feel guilty for the rest of our lives, you know." Ricky smiled at Amy's reassurances and positive attitude.

"But you know…" he paused for effect, and Amy looked at him expectantly. "I actually…didn't cheat." He smirked, grinning widely, and Amy's jaw hung open in startled annoyance.

* * *

><p>It was 6 o' clock in the evening when Amy suddenly looked up from the movie they were watching. "I'm really, really hungry," she announced, looking around, as if hoping that plates of her desired food would come popping out of nowhere.<p>

Ricky looked over from beside her and raised his eyebrows.

"What? I am!" Amy protested, trying to justify herself.

Ricky laughed and dug his mobile phone out of his pockets. He started to scroll through his contacts. "What do you want to eat then?"

"Mmm…I'm thinking Chinese. Or maybe Italian…though I do really want a burger…oh, and maybe some nach-" Ricky interrupted her rambling. "Just pick something already!" He looked at her, half amused, half annoyed.

Amy met his gaze reproachfully. "Fine. Chinese?" Ricky smirked and threw up his hands. "There we go!" Amy snorted, laughing and pushed him gently.

"Hello? Yeah can I have," Ricky put his hand on the speaker. "Amy what do you want?"  
>"Mushi pork,"she replied promptly. Ricky uncovered the phone and was about to talk when Amy hurriedly added, "Oh and don't forget extra duck sauce!"<p>

Ricky rolled his eyes at her, and then filled out his own order before finally hanging up the phone.  
>"You really like your duck sauce don't you?" he looked teasing, boyish mouth twisted into an amused smile.<p>

Amy feigned nonchalance. "Eh. Kind of." Ricky raised his eyebrows with a twinkle in his eye that made Amy's face break out into another one of her breath-taking smiles.

* * *

><p><em>Ding-dong. Ding-dong.<em>

The movie had just finished and Ricky and Amy were laughing about one of the characters. She looked around, startled. "Is that the take-out? That was fast…"

"Yeah, I chose one near your place, so you wouldn't be hungry for too long." Amy gave him a look. "You 'chose one'? How many do you have on your contact list?" she asked, incredulous.

Ricky shrugged, smiling. "I like to keep a few on hand of every type of take-out…" at Amy's flabbergast expression he quickly held up his hands. "Hey, hey, you never know when you're going to be stuck in a pinch in some random place with a starving stomach. It's called good preparation."

_Ding-dong_. The bell rung again, and Amy hurried to the hallway, snorting at Ricky's last comment. She grabber her wallet from the counter, and pulled the door open.  
>"Sorry, thanks. How much will it be?" Amy took the bag of food from the delivery guy, who was ogling her chest slightly, as she bent down to put the food on the floor.<p>

"Uh…20 bucks." He coughed awkwardly, peering at Amy as she shuffled through her wallet.

"Here you go." A deep voice interrupted them, and both Amy and the delivery guy looked up, surprised. Ricky was holding out two 10-dollar bills out expectantly, a challenging gleam in his eye. When the guy didn't take it he said, rather brutally, "Well? Are you going to take the money or do we get the food for free?"  
>The guy started and hurriedly took the money, and, turning on his heel, ran back to his scooter.<p>

Ricky smirked at his retreating back, before an annoyed cough brought him back to the current situation. Amy was looking at him, her eyebrows raised, brown eyes flashing.

"Ricky! What was that? You scared the poor guy out of his wits!" her hands on her hips, as she glared.

"Yeah well he didn't look so scared when he was trying to look down your shirt," Ricky muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets sullenly.

"That's not an excu-Wait what? No he wasn't!" Amy looked scandalized.

"I'm pretty sure that's why is head was tilted when you bent down," Ricky looked at her pointedly. Amy frowned, as she tried to remember what he really had done.

"Okay, you know what, never mind," she shook her head, irritated look disappearing. "In any case, thank you for paying." She bent down and hauled the plastic bag into her arms and walked off to the kitchen. During that little show, _Ricky_ could not help but try looking down her shir-he pinched himself. He should not be having such thoughts about Amy…especially since he and Adrian had just made up.

"Ricky! Hurry up, the food's going to get cold," Amy called from the kitchen.

* * *

><p><em>Beep. Beep. Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep. Bee-<em> Adrian's hand slammed down on the alarm clock, effectively silencing it. She crawled out from underneath her covers, her eyes bloodshot and ringed with black mascara smudges. Groaning, Adrian surveyed her room, which was a mess. There was a large, empty churros box sitting on her floor, and a big tub of half-finished ice cream that had melted slightly, was propped on her bedside table.

The memory of last night echoed in her mind: she had stayed up late, waiting for Ricky to call…but he never did. She had held out from calling him herself, not wanting to seem desperate, and had fallen asleep with her phone pressed to her cheek. But it was morning now, and enough was enough. Manicured nails clacking on the buttons she quickly dialled Ricky's number.

_Tringg. Tringg. Tringg. _Ricky shot up, off the sofa. He looked around groggily, unsure of why he was not in his own bed. Then he remembered that he was at Amy's. Faintly, Ricky recalled the small shouting match they had had about who would get the bed or the living room sofa. Evidently, Ricky had won; with his argument that she was pregnant and needed her sleep.

_Tringg. _The insistent ringing of his phone broke him out of his reverie. Quickly, he answered it without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" he yawned as he answered.

"Ricky Underwood, you lying, cheating, good-for-noth-" Adrian shouted down the phone, hysterical with hurt and fury.

"Whoa, whoa, hey what's wrong?" Ricky asked, frowning and completely oblivious to the reason of her anger.

"You said you would call! I thought it would be different this time, I thought, maybe you really did want us to work! I can't believe that I actually tho-"

Ricky interrupted her again, swearing. "I'm sorry. Oh God…I can't believe I forgot."

Adrian, sounding a little pacified at his apology asked, snarky, "Where are you anyway?"

There was a very awkward pause, until Ricky took a deep breath, and said, a tad defensively, "Amy's place."

There was a split second of silence until Adrian exploded. "What! You went a slept with Amy Juergens again? And yet you still apologize for not calling me back! I bet you completely forgot while you were shagging that dirty little slut! So what, she's your new bed-buddy? I cannot believe you!"

"Adrian, no! It's not like that. Her dad just asked me to stay over and watch over her, cause he and her mom were out of town for the weekend."

"Oh, I'll just bet he did. Yeah, probably asked you to go and hop in her bed while you were at it! And why does she need taking care of anyway? It's just a weekend for Christ's sake! I go for weeks without my mom, and my dad isn't even around!" Adrian's tone threatened to go on and on, until Ricky finally interrupted her again.

"Hey, yeah I know it's a bit strange but she's not exactly in top condition right now is she?" he paused for a breath, while Adrian muttered "No thanks to you."

"Look, you can believe me, or you can choose not to. But nothing happened last night. We argued about who would have the bed in her room and I won, so she's still asleep in her room, and I'm on her sofa." Ricky sounded peeved that Adrian didn't believe him, as he exasperatedly explained the events of the night before.

Adrian huffed. "Fine. But if you pull this kind of stunt again, I swear, I will hit you so hard, you'll find yourself in China."

Ricky chuckled, and said, "Alright, I got it. I'll come around…Sunday night? After I 'put Amy to bed'."

Adrian rolled her eyes at the last part. "God…she's such a child. I don't understand why you hang around her."

Ricky frowned a little. "Hey. No more talking bad about Amy. If you can't find anything nice to say, don't say anything. Alright?" he said, with a warning tone in his voice.

"Fine. Call me later tonight?"

"Cool. I won't forget this time," he added, smirking. Without waiting for her to reply, he went and clicked the 'End Call' button.

"Ricky?" he heard a sleepy voice murmur from the hallway. He got up, peering around the corner in the wall.

Amy shuffled in, combing her hand through her hair, in a big loose shirt and pyjama shorts. When she saw him she quickly covered her eyes, and groaned. "Ricky! Put on some pants! I don't want to see you in your boxers."

Ricky jumped and looked down, remembering that he had pulled his jeans off when he went to sleep last night. "Got it. Sorry," he said, hurriedly tugging his trousers on. "Alright, I'm decent."

Amy giggled, uncovering her eyes. "I'm done with the bathroom so you can go upstairs and clean up. There are new toothbrushes in the cabinet above the sink and there fresh wash-cloths are in the cupboard. What do you want for breakfast?"

Ricky frowned as he thought. "Uhm…the cereal we had last time I came around? You know, the one with the strawberries and stuff?"

Amy laughed, remembering how much he had enjoyed her special cereal mixture.

"Kay, you go clean up and I'll go make breakfast," she said, as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Ricky, too, chuckled, and climbed the stairs. What an interesting life he led…Kind, caring, funny guy by day, dark, attractive, alluring boyfriend by night. What a strange combination..

_**FINALLY. Finished the chapter. I'm so so SO sorry for the delay! You all probably think I'm dead or something..As I explained in my Author's Note, I've been snowed down with the amount of work from school and I'm really sorry! In consolation, this is the longest chapter yet?:) Haha I hoped you enjoyed it! Leave some feedback if you want:)**_

_**xx Sophie**_


	7. In The Business Of Misery

Amy twiddled the lock on her locker deftly, feeling the familiar cool sensation of metal under her fingertips. She smiled as it quickly clicked open, and started pulling the books out of her bag, carefully stowing them away for classes later that day.

It was still quite early in the morning, as she had gotten out of bed especially ahead of schedule to avoid having to see too many people, still being very embarrassed about her 'predicament'. Amy raised her wrist and looked down hurriedly at her watch, and for a split second, stared, transfixed as the seconds hand ticked past the 12, in turn moving the hour hand towards the 8.

8:00. As if on cue, the great orange doors of Grant High burst open, and torrents of students flooded into the polished halls. When they spotted Amy's lone figure standing at her locker, the original ruckus died down so quickly it was comical, and a new wave of whispers gushed over the previous silence. And then…cheering. A girl from amidst the throng let out a loud whoop and shouted, "Welcome back Amy!" Her friends around her joined in the cheering and clapping, and soon, the whole student body was shouting, whooping, congratulating, screaming…you name it, the ruckus was phenomenal.

For the first time in weeks, Amy's face broke into a genuine smile in the premises of the student body.

Gradually, the noise died down as people started to drift to homerooms and to class. Amy smiled to herself, and turned back to her locker. As she reached in to pull her English Lit. Book out, she felt a warm hand touch her arm. Amy looked down, surprised, and turned to face the owner. Grace Bowman. Blonde and fair, Grace was the dream of nearly every teenage boy. What she lacked in brains, she made up for in looks. Grace smiled her white, toothy smile, and chirped brightly, "Hi Amy! Welcome back!" Amy smiled uncertainly and said, "Thanks.."

Grace continued, unfazed. "I wanted to talk to you about this job opportunity that the church has opened up." At this, Amy's eyes widened. Church? Job? Amy had been worrying about finding a job that would accommodate her school timetable and the hassles of bringing up a child. Perhaps this would be it…

"One of the church nursery ladies is moving away, and there's a spot open!" Whatever Amy had been expecting, it was not this, and she goggled at Grace accordingly.

Grace, not seeing Amy's look, chattered on. "I figured that since you're having a baby, you could keep him in the nursery, and then go see them after work, and then take them home!" Suddenly, she felt something engulf her, and almost swallowed a mouthful of Amy's hair. She found Amy hugging her tightly, saying, "Thank you!" over and over and over again. Amy pulled back from the hug, smiling gratefully, a gesture that Grace returned enthusiastically.

"You don't know how much this means to me Grace. Thank you so much!" At this moment, a tall, athletic looking boy sauntered over, touching Grace's shoulder lightly. Grace turned lovingly to him and said to Amy, "It was actually Jack's idea. He told me that God spoke to him one night about helping those who had lost their way, and he immediately thought of you!" Amy smiled good-naturedly, taking the double-edged blade with cheer.

"Thanks so much again, Grace and Jack," Amy bit her lower lip, looking at them with extreme gratitude.

"Nah, it's nothing. Anyways, we gotta get going, we'll see you around?" Jack grinned lopsidedly and waved, as both he and Grace left for first period. Unexpectedly, Grace turned back around and rushed back to Amy. "Call me later? We should hang out sometime!" Amy laughed and quickly jotted Grace's number down on a spare corner of paper, before turning back to her locker, listening to Grace and Jack's footsteps grow fainter and fainter.

* * *

><p>At lunch, Amy was chatting cheerfully with Lauren about their awful Chem. Teacher, when she was swiftly pulled back. She looked up, startled into the gloriously happy eyes of Ben.<p>

"Ben!" Amy laughed exuberantly, having not seen him for almost a week. She wasn't really mad at him anymore about the incident that happened at her house with Ricky, and so had missed him whole-heartedly.

Ben clasped Amy's slight frame tightly to his long, lanky one, smiling into her burnished locks.

"How was your week? I tried to come over on the weekend but my dad wanted to go golfing so I couldn't," Ben pulled back from Amy, and led her to one of the lunch tables.

"Yeah, I'll just go find Madison. Talk to you later?" Lauren, sounding sarcastic but amused, walked off, entertained by Amy and Ben's exchange.

"Uhm, it was okay. Didn't really do much, but I got my room cleaned cause Ricky helped," Amy said absently, as she started to dig into her salad. A jolt made her drop her fork, and Amy let out an exclamation of surprise.

"Ricky was over there again?" Ben was furious, and his fingers, though feeble, dug painfully into Amy's wrist.

"Yeah, my dad asked him stay over for the weekend, cause no one was at home!" Amy was getting frustrated with Ben and his jealous behaviour. Sure, it was a little unorthodox, even unfeasible, that Amy should have another boy stay over at her house while she was dating Ben, but the whole sticky situation was unorthodox for God's sake!

Ben blanched, but then his face turned a light shade of puce. "Oh yeah, I'm sure he did! Yeah, I bet he put up signs to your bed too, saying 'Please proceed this way!' !"

"Ben! Stop it! It's not like that, my dad actually asked him to come over!" by this time, Amy too was spitting furiously.

Unbeknownst to the couple, Adrian Lee was sitting just a few feet away, listening to them squabble with equal anger and horror.

* * *

><p>No, no, no, no, no! Adrian marched furiously into the hallways. If Ben and Amy broke up –and it sure as heck sounded like they were about to– then that would mean that Amy was free! Free to snatch Ricky away! Adrian, seeing Ricky at his locker, hurried there quickly.<p>

She greeted him with a full kiss, which Ricky returned, surprised but willingly. "Come on, let's go to the janitor's storage room. We can have a little fun," Adrian smiled coquettishly, and Ricky chuckled darkly.

"Exactly what I was thinking."

* * *

><p>When Ricky and Adrian emerged hastily from the small storage room, their clothes rumpled, they kissed each other one last time before hurrying off to class. However, Adrian turned back one last time to call confidently after Ricky's retreating back, "I'm doing what I'm doing for us, so don't get angry, alright?" Ricky turned his head, smiling confusedly back at her before continuing on his way to class. Adrian smirked, pleased. Stage 1 of her plan was complete. Now, she just needed to make sure that Amy didn't ever want to go near Ricky again.<p>

It had never occurred to her that what she was doing, once found out, might just push Ricky further away.

* * *

><p>In the slumberous heat of the afternoon sun, a sharp ringing sound echoed piercingly. Grant High's school bell. The school doors burst open and gush after gush of students flooded out, chattering excitedly because it was Friday and many of them had made plans.<p>

However, Adrian's plan was certainly…very different from the others'. As soon as class was over, she quickly hurried out into the hallways, and scoped around for a second, before spotting her target. She sauntered over to Amy who had just walked out of class, looking at her recent test paper.

"Hey." Adrian greeted Amy viciously. Amy looked up, a little taken aback, but her gaze darkened when she saw Adrian.

"Hi Adrian," she said wearily, starting to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you yet," Adrian grabbed Amy's arm, pulling her back. Amy pulled her limb out of Adrian's grasp so violently that both girls stumbled a little.

"Well I'm done with you. Adrian, just leave me alone," Amy ran her hand through her hair tiredly.

Adrian, ignoring Amy's request, advanced forward. "I see you got an A+. At least you're good at something," she smiled patronizingly.

Now Amy's own temper had fired up. "What are you insinuating, _Adrian_?" she hissed.

"Oh, nothing. It's okay Amy, you don't have to be embarrassed. I mean," she scoffed a little, "we all knew you wouldn't be a good mother. It's alright honey," she bared her teeth into a sadistic smile.

"What are you talking about? No one said I wouldn't be a good mother," Amy's pregnancy hormones and irritation were clashing about wildly, and insecurity only made her temper worse.

Adrian covered her mouth, as if realizing she said something wrong. "Oh…I've said too much. Ricky didn't want me to tell you what he thought," she paused, letting the statement sink in. "He doesn't really want you to get too involved in his…and the kid's life, if you know what I mean."

Amy's eyes narrowed, and her face was deathly pale. "Get away from me. I don't care what you or your man-whore boyfriend thinks. Ricky doesn't have to be involved in our child's life if he thinks I'm going to be such a bad mother," and with that, Amy stalked away, furious, leaving a smiling Adrian Lee.

* * *

><p>"Hey guys," Amy huffed as she walked over to Madison and Lauren. "What's up?" she paused. "Why are you guys all dressed up?"<p>

They shifted awkwardly, and Lauren murmured, "We're going to the carnival that's here for the next two weeks."

Silence. Then, "What? I thought you guys offered last week not to go cause I can't go!" Amy was surprised and slightly hurt.

"Yeah but its only here for two weeks! And plus, some guys on the football team are going," Madison cried, half excited half guilty.

Amy sighed, and rubbed her neck. "Fine. Go, have fun. Come around tonight and bring me back some food? I'm craving some greasy carnival hot dogs."

Madison and Lauren agreed very willingly, grateful for the leeway out.

Amy stood out in the sun, waiting for her Mom to come pick her up. She couldn't wait to take her driving test next year…it would make things so much more convenient.

A sleek, silver car pulled up beside her, and she saw Ricky's head lean out the window. He grinned and called, "Hey Amy. Do you need a ride home?"

Amy narrowed her eyes. He couldn't fool her with that innocent, friendly façade.

"Not from you, Mr. I-think-the-mother-of-my-child-is-going-to-do-an-awful-job-and-I-can-do-so-much-better!" Amy reeled off all in one breath before hurrying off to the other side of the car park.

Ricky frowned. Mr. what? And he hadn't said that Amy was a bad mother. If there was one thing that Ricky hated –other than clingy girls that is– it was being judged for something he didn't do. "She's freaking crazy," he muttered to himself, a deep crease folding through his brow.

* * *

><p><em>(1 week later)<em>

Ricky sauntered down the hallway, one hand in his pocket, the other carrying his books. He spotted Amy, and walked a little faster, wanting to talk to her. Amy, hearing hasty footsteps, turned around. However, upon seeing him, she hurried away, copper hair flying gracefully behind her.

Amy looked behind her to see if he was still following her, and crashed, unknowingly into Madison and Lauren.

"Ow! Who do yo- Amy? What are you doing?" Madison rubbed her forehead, which had crashed into Amy's cheek.

Lauren, who had been massaging her elbow narrowed her eyes. "Are you running away from someone?"

Amy smiled guiltily and shrugged her shoulders as if to say "kind of".

Lauren raised her black brows. "Who is it, and what happened?"

The auburn-headed girl sighed. "It's nothing.." Madison looked unconvinced. "No really, what happened?"

Amy sighed again, and recounted the story of her and Adrian's confrontation. When she finished Madison and Lauren looked irritated for their friend. "What is her problem? Seriously…that girl has got issues. And Ricky is seriously a jerk too."

Just then, Ben walked up to them. "Hey, Amy. Can I talk to you?" seeing that her friends weren't going to move, he added, "In private?"

Amy nodded unwillingly, and, after they were alone, murmured, "Yes?"

"Amy, I'm so sorry. I was completely out of hand the other day and I shouldn't have been so jealous."

"Yeah, no kidding," Amy's response was cold and unforgiving. Ben, paused for a moment, slightly deterred, but continued with a brave face.

"Please, Amy. Look at it from my point of view…it was awful for me knowing that the girl I loved was hanging out with another guy. A guy who had taken her virg-" Amy cut in hastily. "Okay, okay. I get it…I just wish you would trust me Ben," she murmured sadly, looking up at him.

"I'm sorry. I do, and I always will," he kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

Amy nodded into her chest. She loved him too, right? He was the only guy for her. He had stood by her and would probably always stand by her. "Love you too," she whispered.

* * *

><p>Ricky stood nervously outside Amy's door. He wiped his hands on the ends of his shirt, clasping them together, before knocking briskly on the white wood door.<p>

"Coming!" George's voice called roughly from inside. Ricky cringed. He was still slightly apprehensive around George, because he was never sure if George's threats were just jokes or real, genuine promises to harm him.

When he opened the door, George looked surprised for a split second before his eyes narrowed. "Come in. We were just talking about you," and with that, he turned back towards the kitchen.

Ricky groaned inwardly and closed the door. He was not going to get out of this house alive tonight.

Amy was sitting at the dinner table, her legs crossed under her, talking quietly to her mother. When she saw her dad come back in she asked, "Who was it?"

"Me," Ricky said, coughing uncomfortably as every eye (Amy, Anne, George and Ashley) in the room turned to him.

Ashley scowled at Ricky, her plump, pretty face turned harsh and accusing. Ricky coughed again, looking at Amy. "Can we, er, talk…privately?"

Amy had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes and replied back snappily, "Fine." With that, she walked swiftly out of the room, and Ricky, after shaking and steeling himself, followed her.

As he turned the corner, Ricky stopped suddenly. There was no sign of Amy. He looked around curiously, when, out of the blue, a hand pulled him and he stumbled confusedly into a small room. The…laundry room?

Amy glared at him for a second as if reprimanding him for not being able to find his way, before settling herself comfortably onto the washing machine. Ricky, in turn, leaned against the dryer, fiddling with his shirt.

"Well?" Amy folded her arms, watching him squirm with an unconcealed pleasure.

Ricky looked up. He could sense her delight from his discomfort and that irritated him beyond belief. "What the hell, Amy!" he burst out angrily.

Amy's eyes widened. Ricky continued, his confusion and resentment fuelling his fervour. "What the hell is wrong with you! We were friends one day and the next you're calling me names and ignoring me! Geez, what's your problem?"

Amy remained frozen for a split second before her eyes turned fiery.

"What's my _problem_? What's _your_ problem! I'm not going around telling their bed-buddies that the mother of their child is physically and emotionally incapable of taking care of their child!" she shouted, her face colouring faintly as the blood rushed up.

Ricky frowned. "What are you talking about? I never said anything of the sort!"

These words, meant to pacify Amy, only made her angrier. "Don't think I'm going to fall for your lies again Ricky," she spat. "I'm not so easy to trick anymore. I know what you said to Adrian, she told me."

Ricky narrowed his eyes. What was she talking about? Slowly and deliberately, he said, "I haven't said a single word to Adrian about our parenting skills." Suddenly, a memory hit him from the last week. 'I'm doing what I'm doing for us, so don't get angry, alright?' she had called after him. Ricky hadn't understood then, but it crashed into him like a ton of bricks now. He swore, pinching his nose bridge.

Amy's alabaster brow creased as she peered uncertainly at Ricky. "What?" she asked suspiciously. "What's going on?"

Ricky opened his eyes and looked at Amy a little apologetically. "I think Adrian was…how do I explain this. I think she was trying to get us to antagonize each other. She was trying to make sure that you and I don't get too close."

Amy wrinkled her nose a little, as she tried to understand what Ricky was saying. Ricky, seeing her struggle tried to clarify. "Like, me and Adrian have always had this thing going, and she's the really protective type so…I guess she just felt threatened."

He tried not to let his frustration seep into his voice while he was explaining, but inside, Ricky was very annoyed and irritated with Adrian. She'd been keeping up the 'jealous girlfriend' behaviour ever since she had found out that he was having a kid with another girl, which, originally, was understandable, but honestly, he thought, if she was so uncomfortable, she should have just broken up with him and cut the whole thing off altogether! Ricky continued his inner dialogue, until Amy's voice interrupted him.

"That's just…ridiculous," she said, sounding peeved.

Ricky sighed, aggravated. "Yeah…I know."

Amy cleared her throat. "I'm sorry," she said, looking embarrassed. "I should have known to just keep a clear head and talked to you about it, and not have jumped to assumptions."

Ricky chuckled a little at Amy's remorseful expression. "Nah, it's alright."

* * *

><p>"Adrian, what the hell is wrong with you!" were the first words that greeted the aforementioned girl the next morning.<p>

"Good morning to you too, Ricky," Adrian muttered, rolling her eyes.

"I cannot believe that you told Amy I said she would be a bad mother!" Ricky shouted.

"Hey, hey calm down," Adrian held her hands up. "Don't get so worked up about it, I was just teasing her."

Ricky narrowed his eyes angrily. "No you weren't, you can't fool me with that load of crap." His expression was so accusing and defensive for Amy that Adrian's temper too, fired up.

"Fine. So maybe I did," she cried. "But I was just doing it for us! You were getting so involved with a _kid_ and I just wanted to, you know, steer you back into the right direction." Adrian said it as if her reason justified everything.

"She's having my child, Adrian! Of course I'm getting 'involved' with her!" Adrian scowled, and Ricky knew he would have to say something that would pacify her before she blew up again and the whole school heard of their business. Faintly, he heard footsteps behind him, but did not take much notice of it, his mind was working so furiously fast to try and conjure up a story.

"I'm not interested in her like that, okay Adrian? She's just a kid, and I'm just trying to be friends with her so that she let's me into the kid's life. I don't actually want to be friends with her. It's just for convenience's sake."

He saw, with satisfaction, that Adrian smiled at this, but then, to his complete and utter dread, watched her smile widen smugly as she smirked at something behind him. Ricky whipped around to see Amy standing there. She had heard the last part of their conversation, and there were angry tears in her russet eyes. Amy directed her fiery orbs to him, and looked at him, irises full of hurt before hurrying off, wiping the heel of her hand determinedly across her eyes.

Ricky groaned, rubbing his hand across his face, and ran off after her, leaving Adrian, once again, furious.

"Amy! Amy, wait up!" Ricky ran after her out into the back of the school.

"What now? Are you going to tell me that I was just imagining all that and you never said anything of the kind?" Amy whipped around so fast that Ricky stumbled a little.

Ricky remained silent, his eyes pleading. "No, I thought not," Amy said spitefully.

He took a deep breath. "Amy…I promise you, I didn't mean any of that," when she made a disbelieving noise, he continued on bravely. "I wanted to get her off my back, but I understand if you don't believe me. Just know that I really do think of you as a friend."

Amy sighed, hearing his sincerity. In all honesty, she wasn't so much mad as she was hurt. "Fine," she said grudgingly. "You're on Friendship Probation," and her lips tugged slightly at the corners.

Ricky's face broke into a smile. "Really? That's awesome," he grinned at her. An idea occurred to him. "How 'bout I take you out tonight? Would that speed up the process?"

Amy laughed slightly, and nodded, greatly amused. Ricky smirked and said, "Alright then, where do you want to go?"

She deliberated for a couple of seconds before her eyes lit up. "The carnival! It's only here for a few more days, and Madison and Lauren went without me," she said, a trifle sadly at mentioning her friend's leaving her behind.

Ricky frowned a little but agreed to take her willingly. "We'll go straight after school, so we can get back a little earlier. I know how early you like to sleep," he smirked at her.

Amy rolled her eyes playfully, and they walked back into the building, chatting light-heartedly about this and that.

* * *

><p>As soon as class was out, Amy gathered up all her things and hurried out the school door, searching for Ricky's silver car as she ran. When she spotted it, smiled happily and started walking towards it as quickly as she could without looking silly.<p>

Ricky saw her coming, and grinned despite himself at her happy-go-lucky expression. He got out the car and held open the door for her, chuckling at her surprised expression.

The whole way there, Amy said everything that came to her mind, and Ricky listened with as deep of a sense of serenity as someone could, listening to another chatter like a maniac. Amy's voice was soft and melodic even in her excitement, and the way she gestured with her hands was very graceful and gentle. Ricky turned his eyes away from the road grinned at her every few seconds, a movement that had gone unnoticed by her.

As they drew up to the lot that the carnival had settled in for the past couple of weeks, Amy stopped talking, her eyes glowing with the warm brilliance of candlelight. As soon as they bought their tickets, Amy pulled Ricky towards the spinning rollercoaster.

"Oh no, I'm not getting on one of those things. I'd rather keep my lunch where it is thank you," Ricky stepped back from the line, his hands held up in front of him.

Amy laughed, "Chicken."

Ricky chuckled and kept her company while she waited in line. When she got on the ride and strapped herself in, he smirked when he saw her eyes twinkling mischievously as she stuck her tongue out at him.

He watched, with mild horror and amusement as the ride spun around faster and faster, feeling slightly worried for Amy's sake. When she got off however, he saw that his worry was completely unnecessary.

She hopped off lightly, and bounded to him, and laughed along as they watched the others get off the ride groaning and holding their heads.

"Do you want to go on the Ferris wheel? I heard that you can see the whole city when you're at the very top!" Amy looked so eager that Ricky couldn't do anything but relent.

She swung her legs like a child as they waited for all the other passengers to board their compartments and laughed giddily when the ride started to move. Amy gasped and pointed as if she was 3, and shook Ricky's arm, shouting things merrily when she looked down at the ant-sized people below them. When the ride paused at the very top, she sighed contentedly. Ricky, during the past 10 minutes had been sitting back slightly bored and slightly charmed by Amy's innocent ways. The ride stopped at the very top for about 5 minutes, and after a couple of seconds into it, Ricky realized that it was quite chilly where they were, all the way up in the sky. He looked at Amy, concerned and though she didn't say anything, he could see the small goose bumps that had risen on her pale, golden skin. Quickly, he shrugged off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her slight frame.

Amy looked up surprised. When she saw Ricky's jacket draped around her, and him sitting back in only a button up shirt, she started to peel it off her shoulders, saying, "I'm okay. Aren't you cold though?"

"Nah, I'm alright. Keep it, your skin looks like a featherless chicken," he said, smirking.

"Thanks," she murmured sarcastically, smiling.

Once the ride was over Amy started pulling Ricky towards the fast-food stands around the area. "Madison and Lauren never brought me back one of the hot dogs, and I've been desperately needing one all week. And some chicken wings too!" Ricky rolled his eyes and followed her, chuckling.

As they waited in line, Amy started to reach into her bag and pull out her wallet before Ricky's warm hand stopped her.

"It's okay, I'll pay." When she showed signs of protesting he smirked and said, "If I pay you'll be more likely to take me off probation."

Amy laughed quietly and yielded.

* * *

><p>On the way back, Amy was a little quieter than the exuberant girl that had come into the carnival, but Ricky just paged it as tiredness. However, as they neared her house, he saw her shutting her eyes tightly as she pressed her lips together into a thin line. He frowned, but did not say anything.<p>

As the car lurched a little when turning the corner up her driveway, Amy clamped a hand over her mouth. She was going to be sick. Ricky looked at her, panicked, and said hastily, "It's okay Amy, we're just a few blocks away. Hold on."

Amy nodded, her eyes squeezed shut, but as soon as Ricky stopped the car outside her house, she leapt out of the car and threw up weakly all over the street. Ricky, too, quickly got out and held her hair back while she heaved up the contents of their greasy dinner.

When she was done, he grabbed a pack of tissues from inside his car and handed her one to wipe her mouth.

"Sorry," she whispered hoarsely. "That was embarrassing."

Ricky smiled. "Nah, it happens. Come on, let's get you inside," and gently, he led her back into her house. When they got to the door, Amy was about to shuffle around for her purse to find her key when the door clicked open. She looked up, surprised and saw Ricky pushing open the door. "How did you do that?" she asked, a trifle suspiciously.

Ricky laughed. "Remember when I came over for the first time for your check-up thing?" Amy nodded and he went on. "Remember how Ben came over, and you asked him how he got in? Well…I'm a pretty good listener," he smirked as realization dawned on Amy's features, and she smiled, entertained by his little story.

Ricky led Amy up to her room and, pulling back the covers, said, "You get dressed into your pyjamas and brush your teeth. I'll get you a cup of hot water." And, saying so, he left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Amy groggily took off her clothes and changed into her sleepwear, and shuffled to her bathroom to quickly floss and brush her teeth, before climbing gratefully into bed.

Ricky, as he waited for the water to boil, heard the back door open. Anne, George and Ashley came in, talking heatedly about the parent-teacher meeting they had just been to. When they spotted Ricky, they stopped, shocked.

"Hey…Mr. and Mrs. Juergens…Amy and I just got back from the carnival, but she got sick on the way here so I told her to get into bed and I thought I'd just bring her a cup of hot water. That's what Marg-I mean Mom always does for the kids when they get sick," he finished lamely.

There was a pause, and Anne was the first to recover. "Amy's sick? What happened?"

Ricky told her about the carnival food and how she insisted on going on one last ride before leaving. "There's also a puddle of sick on your driveway so…"

George shook his head, laughing a little. "I'll go clean it up. Anne, you go take care of Amy, and Ashley…well…you can come with me." Ignoring Ashley's protests about how she didn't want to clean up "hot dog and chicken wing vomit" went unnoticed as George pulled her out onto the road.

Anne and Ricky stood awkwardly in the kitchen before she cleared her throat. "I know…I know that we haven't gotten off to the best start Ricky, but I just wanted to tell you that George and I are grateful for how nice you've been to Amy recently, what with taking care of her and everything."

Ricky nodded, a little awkwardly, because he was so unused to receiving compliments.

"Thanks…er…I'll just be going then." Anne nodded, and turned to the kettle, when she heard Ricky turn and say quietly, "Tell Amy I say goodnight and that I'll see her in school tomorrow."

And, without waiting for Anne's response, he quickly left, shutting the door behind him.

She turned to where he had been standing and frowned a little. There was something a bit strange about the way he had acted just now, very unlike anything she had ever really seen in a teenage boy. However, before she could dwell on it more, the kettle clicked, and Anne turned her attention back to Amy and her current invalid state.

When Anne pushed open the door to Amy's room, she heard Amy's quiet, husky voice say, "Ricky?"

"No, it's me," her Mom said, smiling as she brought in Amy's water.

"Mom? When did you get home?" Amy was surprised, and Anne thought she could hear an underlying tone of disappointment in her voice.

"Just now," she replied briskly, handing Amy the water. "Ricky says goodnight and he'll see you tomorrow in school," Anne said this evaluating Amy's expression carefully.

Amy, who could feel her Mom watching her as she sipped her water, feigned an expression of nonchalance. "Oh okay."

"Well, I'll let you get some rest. If you still feel bad tomorrow morning, you don't have to go to school," and, saying this, Anne kissed Amy on the head and left her room.

Amy cradled the warm cup in her hands carefully, thinking pleasantly about her night with Ricky. She sighed contentedly. It was good to have a friend.

_**Hey guys! I am so so so SO sorry for the late update:/ I know, you all probably think I'm dead right now. Anyways..pretty big chapter so I hope that makes up for it. **_

_**ALSO. IMPORTANT: if you guys have not read Part 2 of (originally Chapter 17, Weekend at Amy's) please go read it the previous chapter. **_

_**Another thing. As you all have probably noticed, I have changed the 'chaptering' a little and have squished a bunch of them together so I hope you're all okay with that. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave me comments/reviews if you see any mistakes! I like to have really grammatically correct pieces with correct spelling so..:) **_

_**xx S.**_


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